TLDR
- SpaceX (SPCX) stock fell 9% on Thursday, a day after a Q3 report that beat estimates.
- Q3 revenue rose 161% to $14.6 billion, with a $4.4 billion profit.
- Bloomberg says SpaceX wants at least 80,000 US cell sites and is talking with Crown Castle.
- JPMorgan raised its target to $500 from $240, well above the other banksā $190 to $300.
- Starship Flight 15 is expected next month with a catch attempt.
SpaceX (SPCX) stock fell 9% on Thursday, one day after an earnings report that beat estimates. The stock closed at $147.79 on Oct. 20, then rose 6.6% after hours to $157.59.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
Third-quarter revenue jumped 161% to $14.6 billion. Analysts had expected $12.87 billion.
SpaceX also swung to a $4.4 billion profit from a $1.1 billion loss a year ago. The Super Intelligence segment brought in $7.6 billion, up 830%.
Connectivity grew 69% to $5.2 billion. Capital spending hit $19.6 billion, and SpaceX guided to $35 billion to $40 billion for the fourth quarter.
Elon Musk said he is āfairly confidentā SpaceX can add about 10 gigawatts of computing capacity in 2027. He also said the AI compute shortage āis going to remain for a long time.ā
Bloomberg reported that SpaceX wants at least 80,000 cell sites across the US. It is in talks with at least one major tower company, according to people familiar with the matter.
Tower Talks and the Carrier Push
Crown Castle is one of the companies in talks, the people said. CEO Chris Hillabrant told analysts, āYou can assume that weāre talking to all parties.ā
American Tower declined to comment. Vertical Bridge and SpaceX did not respond right away to requests.
The deals could be worth billions. They would move SpaceX closer to a fourth nationwide wireless carrier.
On Thursday, American Tower rose 2.21% and Crown Castle gained 0.23%. Tower stocks also climbed earlier this month when SpaceX bought low-band spectrum.
How Wall Street Sees It
JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth raised his target to $500 from $240 and kept an Overweight rating. That implies 238% upside from the Oct. 20 close.
His model assumes 2027 revenue of $254 billion. SpaceXās own first-quarter 2027 guide is $33 billion to $37 billion.
Four times that range is $132 billion to $148 billion for the year. JPMorganās forecast needs about $63.5 billion a quarter.
Other banks sit lower. Morgan Stanley has a $300 target, UBS $230, RBC Capital $225, Mizuho $205 and Stifel $190.
Backlog ended the quarter at $63 billion, with about $42 billion expected to become revenue within 12 months. Musk also said SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to study a possible merger.
Starship Flight 15 is expected next month with a catch attempt. Musk said success āis not guaranteed.ā
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