SpaceX Earnings Shock Wall Street Into Hiking Price Targets

SpaceX is looking very different to Wall Street analysts this morning. The company just reported numbers that blew away expectations. This has triggered a rush of price target hikes.

The stock closed at $147.79 on Monday, October 20. By Tuesday morning, it had jumped about eight percent. Traders are reacting to the bullish third-quarter report released after the market closed. The data shows a company growing faster than anyone predicted. The market is now pricing in significant long-term growth.

SpaceX has built its current position through a mix of space launches and tech services. The Connectivity segment, which powers Starlink, generated $5.2 billion in revenue. The consumer base for Starlink has now reached 13.6 million users. The company also posted a net profit of $4.4 billion. This is a major shift from a loss in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA hit $8.8 billion for the quarter.

The biggest surprise came from the Super Intelligence division. This AI-focused unit brought in roughly $7.6 billion. It grew nearly 830 percent compared to the previous year. It is now the largest revenue contributor for the entire company. This rapid expansion has changed how investors view the firm's future. The AI business is no longer a side project. It is a core driver of financial performance.

Leadership gave investors a clear roadmap for the near future. CEO Elon Musk and CFO Bret Johnsen outlined first-quarter guidance for 2027. They projected revenue between $33 billion and $37 billion. Analysts had only modeled about $22 billion. The company also plans to spend $35 billion to $40 billion on capital expenditures in the fourth quarter. This spending will focus on AI compute infrastructure in Memphis and Southaven. Management aims for 2.5 to 3 gigawatts of capacity by year-end. They see a path to 13 gigawatts or more by the end of 2027.

Musk noted that demand from large cloud providers is relentless. He stated that current pricing supports payback periods of less than a year. In some cases, those periods are as short as six months. The company also highlighted recent orbital successes with Starship. It discussed V3 satellite deployment and rapid adoption of the Grok Bot. Special committees are now exploring a possible combination with Tesla. These factors have boosted confidence in the company's trajectory.

The analyst community responded quickly to these developments. JPMorgan more than doubled its target to $500. Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $345. Barclays moved its target to $300. Citi increased its target to $240. UBS set a target of $230. TD Cowen raised its target to $224. Morgan Stanley held an Overweight rating with a $300 target. Wells Fargo and Clear Street also adjusted their numbers higher. The average target has risen significantly. This reflects greater conviction in SpaceX's launch, connectivity, and AI businesses. Elevated spending remains a point of focus, but the growth outlook is strong.