Space Exploration Technologies Corp. SPCX

The business

SpaceX sells two things that look like different companies bolted together. Launch (Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and now Starship) carries satellites, cargo, and crew for NASA, national-security customers, and commercial operators. Starlink sells satellite broadband to consumers, enterprises, maritime and aviation accounts, and, through Starshield, to government users. The engine doing most of the work today is Starlink: about $11.4B of FY2025 revenue, 61% of the $18.7B total, at roughly $4.4B of segment operating profit and near 48% growth, per the IPO prospectus. Launch is the smaller, lumpier line at roughly $4.2B external, and most Falcon flights now carry Starlink's own satellites rather than outside payloads, so the two segments increasingly fund and feed each other.

The thing the statements do not show is that the consolidated loss is a choice, not a deterioration. Gross margin has climbed from 41% in 2023 to 49% in 2025 and about 53% in the first half of 2026 as Starlink scales and Falcon reuse compounds. The red ink sits below the gross line: research and development more than doubled to $8.6B in 2025 for Starship, and capital spending hit $20.7B, then $28.5B in the first half of 2026 alone. Operations throw off cash (operating cash flow was $6.8B in 2025); the burn is the reinvestment. What changed this year is the June IPO, which converted the old preferred stack and left roughly $100B of cash and short-term investments on the balance sheet.