SpaceX Shares Plunge 13% As Elon Musk’s Fortune Sheds $80 Billion—Here’s What Analysts Are Saying

Aug 06, 2026 01:51 AM - 1 hour ago 4

Topline

SpaceX’s banal erstwhile again took a deed connected Wednesday aft the rocket shaper posted its first-ever net report, which seemingly spooked investors and analysts aft the Elon Musk-led patient announced a sixfold summation successful quarterly spending.

Elon Musk’s rocket shaper said its quarterly spending surged sixfold.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Key Facts

Shares of SpaceX fell 13% to astir $109 arsenic of Wednesday afternoon, approaching an all-time debased of $104.

SpaceX connected Tuesday reported quarterly gross of $7.81 cardinal and a nonaccomplishment per stock of $0.09, beating Wall Street estimates of $6.9 cardinal and a nonaccomplishment of $0.26, respectively, according to FactSet, arsenic the firm’s nett nonaccomplishment narrowed to $541 cardinal from $1 billion.

The rocket shaper said it spent $18.3 cardinal successful its 2nd quarter, $15.8 cardinal of which went toward AI, exceeding estimates of $13.2 billion, arsenic SpaceX’s superior expenditures totaled $28.5 cardinal successful the first half of this year—that marks a sixfold summation complete past year’s astir $7 billion.

Both Musk and Bret Johnsen, SpaceX’s main financial officer, tried to cool concerns astir the ramp-up successful spending during an net call: Johnsen said “all capex is not the same,” particularly erstwhile it comes to AI, to which Musk announced to shareholders SpaceX planned to build AI information centers successful abstraction utilizing Nvidia chips exclusively.

Musk besides said SpaceX now expects gross to apical $1 trillion by 2030 and perchance by 2029, down from his earlier projection for 2031.

how did economists respond to spacex earnings?

Some brokerages appeared optimistic astir SpaceX’s quarterly earnings: JPMorgan analysts, who lifted their value target for shares to $240 from $225, wrote SpaceX is benefiting from “extreme vertical integration” while noting its “pace of alteration successful AI is incredibly fast,” and that a step-up successful AI infrastructure and higher monetization could push SpaceX’s AI gross to $100 cardinal successful 2027. Wells Fargo analysts trim their value target for SpaceX shares to $215 from $230 amid broader be aware astir its AI spending, noting that SpaceX was “off to an eager start” and that gross projections for 2027 and 2028 were higher than expected, but truthful were superior expenditure estimates. Kathleen Brooks, investigation head astatine the brokerage XTB, told The Wall Street Journal, “The interest for investors is really accelerated expenditure maturation is outpacing gross growth.”

what to watch for

A stray portion of a SpaceX rocket that floated successful abstraction complete the past twelvemonth apt collapsed into the satellite early connected Wednesday, the BBC reported, though images of the collision person yet to beryllium processed. The rocket is believed to person collapsed adjacent the Einstein Crater, located connected the different broadside of the satellite from the Apollo 11 landing tract successful an area that receives daylight and is visible from Earth.

crucial quote

Chris Beauchamp, IG’s main marketplace analyst, told CNBC: “Part of a SpaceX rocket crashing into the satellite this greeting is astir apt a bully metaphor for the stock value capacity truthful far.”

surprising fact

If SpaceX shares autumn beneath $100, that would connote investors saw nary worth from the rocket maker’s AI business, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote past month. Some already spot “zero aliases antagonistic value” arsenic SpaceX ramps up its spending connected abstraction and connectivity amid “largely uncertain economics,” the analysts said.

forbes valuation

Musk’s nett worthy was trim by $81 cardinal to $701.5 cardinal successful SpaceX’s decline, according to Forbes’ estimates. His luck swelled by much than $57 cardinal up of SpaceX’s net study connected Tuesday, and a simplification connected Wednesday still has his nett worthy good supra that of Google co-founder Larry Page ($309 billion) and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($278.3 billion), who rank arsenic the second- and third-richest group successful the world, respectively.

key background

The net study marks the first quarterly financial update from SpaceX since its historical trading debut successful June. SpaceX shares person mislaid much than half their worth since hitting an all-time precocious supra $220 by June 16, erstwhile Musk’s luck topped $1.45 trillion, moreover arsenic analysts still appeared bullish astir the company’s business prospects. Not overmuch has pushed SpaceX shares toward the green, moreover aft a successful Starship trial motorboat past period that later resulted successful the banal stumbling by astir 5%.