SpaceX Q2 2026 Earnings: Colossal $18.37B Capex Surges on AI Infrastructure as Starlink ARPU Stabilizes at $66
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) reported its second-quarter 2026 earnings on August 4, 2026—its first financial report as a public company following its historic June IPO. The results highlighted a massive dichotomy: while the core business segments delivered stellar top-line growth, capital expenditures surged to an unprecedented $18.37 billion, fueled by aggressive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Financial Performance and Cash Position
SpaceX's Q2 2026 revenue rose 92% year-over-year to $7.814 billion, beating Wall Street consensus of $6.8 billion. The company's net loss narrowed to $541 million from a $1.008 billion loss in Q2 2025. Adjusted EBITDA grew 191% year-over-year to $3.538 billion.
Despite these strong operational figures, SpaceX's capital expenditures skyrocketed more than sixfold to $18.37 billion in the quarter (just below the $18.58 billion maximum estimate but far exceeding the initial $13.22 billion average analyst forecast). This surge was heavily concentrated in the company's AI segment, which recorded $15.8 billion in capital spending (representing 86% of total company capex) to build out data center hardware and compute capacity. The AI segment posted an operating loss of $1.257 billion for the quarter.
SpaceX remains exceptionally well-capitalized. Following its record-breaking $85.7 billion IPO in June and a subsequent $25.0 billion senior unsecured bond sale, the company ended the quarter with $100 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, alongside an order backlog of $47.5 billion.
Starlink Subscriber and ARPU Metrics
The Connectivity segment (which includes Starlink) remains the primary growth and cash engine of the company, generating $4.3 billion in revenue (up 66% YoY) and $2.597 billion in Adjusted EBITDA.
- Subscribers: Starlink reached a milestone 12.0 million subscribers at the end of Q2 2026, doubling year-over-year and adding 1.7 million net new subscribers in a single quarter.
- ARPU: Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) came in flat sequentially at $66/month, stabilizing after a sharp decline from $85/month in the year-ago quarter. The compression reflects Starlink's aggressive expansion into lower-priced global consumer markets, offset by growing enterprise and government contract momentum.
Market Reaction
Following the release, SPCX shares fell 13.6% in the subsequent trading session to close at a new post-IPO low of $141.50 (down 16% from its $150 opening price on June 12, though still above its $135 IPO price). Investors were rattled by the sheer scale of the AI spending and the realization that Starlink's cash flow is being heavily diverted to fund capital-intensive, pre-revenue compute infrastructure rather than pure space operations.