SpaceX hit by surging AI costs as insiders prepare to sell stock

For a rocket company, SpaceX is spending a lot of money to build out its AI capacities.

Too much, according to investors.

The company reported revenues and earnings in its first-ever quarterly update as a public company that the surpassed analysts’ expectations. Most of its revenues came from its Starlink satellite offering.

But investor focus turned to capital expenditures related to its xAI unit, which runs the Grok AI service. Those hit $15.8 billion, higher than expectations of $13.09 billion, according to Bloomberg News data. The spending also comprised most of SpaceX’s overall $18.4 billion quarterly spending on cap-ex.

The report caused SpaceX shares to reverse a healthy run-up during regular trading hours Tuesday. The stock fell some 5% in trading after the closing bell, after having surged 9% earlier.

SpaceX immediately became a multi-trillion-dollar company after a record-setting IPO on June 12 — but nearly just as quickly, it erased $1 trillion in value as the stock plunged amid anticipation of insider stock sales and broader jitters about the pace of AI spending.

Still, the company continues to enjoy a market valuation of more than $1 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. The stock got an additional boost Tuesday after announcing a new deal with Nvidia that will see it provide SpaceX with additional computing power.

Investor speculation has grown that SpaceX may attempt to merge with its sister company, Tesla. This would give Elon Musk even more control over his multi-faceted technology empire than he already exerts.