SpaceX delivered rapid growth across its AI and Connectivity businesses during the second quarter of 2026, although the underlying results showed significant differences between adjusted profitability, reported operating income, subscriber expansion, and revenue per customer.
The company’s AI segment generated $1.15 billion of adjusted EBITDA, compared with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $276 million during the prior-year quarter.
The $1.42 billion turnaround followed accelerated deployment of AI infrastructure and the beginning of revenue recognition from several large cloud-computing agreements.
However, the AI business still recorded a $1.26 billion operating loss.
The difference between adjusted EBITDA and the reported operating loss reached approximately $2.4 billion.
That gap consisted primarily of $1.89 billion in depreciation and amortization and $516 million in share-based compensation.
AI revenue surged to $2.56 billion from $737 million, representing growth of approximately 247%.
Revenue also more than tripled sequentially from $818 million during the first quarter.
AI solutions and infrastructure revenue reached $2.19 billion, compared with $311 million one year earlier.
Advertising revenue declined to $367 million from $426 million, meaning infrastructure and enterprise services generated approximately 86% of total AI revenue.
The shift indicates that SpaceX’s AI operation is rapidly becoming an infrastructure business rather than one primarily supported by advertising.
SpaceX entered several Cloud Services Agreements representing $14.1 billion in contracted sales.
The agreements generated $1.6 billion of incremental AI infrastructure revenue during the second quarter.
The contracted amount was approximately 5.5 times the segment’s total quarterly revenue, providing visibility into future AI infrastructure demand.
Contracted sales represent the value of non-cancelable, enforceable contract periods and include revenue already recognized and related deferred revenue.
They do not include estimated future revenue for periods that can be canceled by SpaceX or its customers.
SpaceX expanded its nameplate AI computing capacity to 1.4 gigawatts from 1 gigawatt at the end of the first quarter and 0.4 gigawatts one year earlier.
The company is continuing to build out Colossus II and said significant additional capacity remains under construction.
The expansion required extraordinary capital investment.
AI capital expenditures reached $15.83 billion during the quarter, compared with $749 million during the prior-year period.
The segment accounted for approximately 86% of SpaceX’s total quarterly capital expenditures of $18.37 billion.
Research and development spending in AI increased to $2.18 billion from $1.12 billion.
Total AI costs and expenses increased by approximately $1.6 billion as SpaceX accelerated computing deployment and continued developing its models and infrastructure.
Despite those investments, the AI operating loss narrowed approximately 18% from $1.52 billion and nearly 49% sequentially from $2.47 billion.
SpaceX also announced an agreement to acquire AI coding platform Cursor for $60 billion.
The company expects the transaction to accelerate its enterprise AI offerings and plans to close the acquisition during the third quarter of 2026.
The proposed purchase price equals more than 23 times the AI segment’s second-quarter revenue, making successful integration and monetization important to the transaction’s long-term economics.
SpaceX’s Connectivity business produced more conventional operating profitability.
Connectivity revenue increased 66% to $4.29 billion from $2.59 billion.
The segment generated $1.66 billion of operating income, representing growth of 79% from $923 million.
Connectivity adjusted EBITDA increased 64% to $2.60 billion from $1.58 billion.
The business generated approximately 73% of SpaceX’s total adjusted EBITDA while accounting for about 55% of consolidated revenue.
Starlink subscribers doubled to 12 million from 6 million one year earlier.
The company added approximately 1.7 million subscribers during the quarter, increasing from 10.3 million at the end of March.
The subscriber expansion occurred despite a substantial decline in average revenue per user.
Monthly Starlink ARPU fell approximately 22% to $66 from $85 one year earlier.
ARPU remained unchanged sequentially from the first quarter.
The lower ARPU may reflect international expansion, customer mix, pricing differences among markets, and growing adoption in regions with lower monthly service prices.
The release does not provide a complete breakdown of the factors behind the decline.
Consumer revenue still increased 44% to $2.49 billion from $1.72 billion because the doubling of the subscriber base more than offset lower average revenue per customer.
Enterprise and government revenue increased 108% to $1.81 billion from $867 million.
That business represented approximately 42% of Connectivity revenue, compared with roughly 34% one year earlier.
SpaceX signed a major Starlink agreement with American Airlines and activated service on additional airlines, including Southwest Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Iberia, and Aer Lingus.
The company also launched new Starlink Mobile partnerships with SoftBank, NTT Docomo, and Spark New Zealand.
Starshield added another large government opportunity.
SpaceX received more than $6 billion in multiyear U.S. government contracts for the secure satellite network, primarily through two Space Force agreements involving low-Earth-orbit communications and sensing constellations.
The Connectivity segment’s growing profit is helping finance investments across Starship, next-generation Starlink satellites, mobile satellite services, and AI infrastructure.
Its $1.66 billion operating profit offset approximately 92% of the combined $1.80 billion operating losses generated by the Space and AI segments.
SpaceX consequently reported a consolidated operating loss of only $143 million.
The Space segment generated $962 million in revenue, increasing 29% from $746 million.
However, the operation recorded a $542 million operating loss and a $205 million adjusted EBITDA loss as Starship research and development spending increased.
Consolidated revenue nearly doubled to $7.81 billion from $4.07 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 191% to $3.54 billion from $1.21 billion.
SpaceX’s net loss narrowed to $541 million from $1.01 billion.
Depreciation and amortization reached $2.85 billion, while share-based compensation totaled $831 million, creating a significant difference between adjusted EBITDA and GAAP earnings.
Quarterly capital expenditures increased to $18.37 billion from $2.83 billion.
Capex therefore equaled approximately 235% of quarterly revenue, reflecting the exceptional investment required to expand AI computing, satellite capacity, and reusable launch infrastructure.
SpaceX ended June with approximately $93.52 billion in cash and cash equivalents and $6.49 billion in marketable securities.
The combined balance of approximately $100 billion followed the company’s initial public offering and inaugural bond issuance.
The IPO generated approximately $85.7 billion in net proceeds, while SpaceX subsequently completed a $25 billion investment-grade bond offering.
The company reported $47.5 billion in backlog.
SpaceX’s second-quarter results show two different growth models operating within the same company.
Starlink is producing substantial operating income and adjusted EBITDA through scale, even as average monthly revenue per subscriber declines.
The AI segment is generating rapid infrastructure revenue and positive adjusted EBITDA, but depreciation, stock compensation, research spending, and massive capital expenditures continue to produce significant reported losses.
The long-term financial outcome will depend on whether SpaceX can convert its cloud contracts and expanding computing capacity into durable cash flow while maintaining Starlink’s subscriber growth and offsetting lower ARPU through enterprise, aviation, mobile, and government services.
KEY QUOTES:
“Revenue growth accelerated across all our business segments and we delivered strong operating leverage, with significant margin expansion led by our new AI compute agreements.”
“Our unparalleled leadership in launch, Starlink subscriber growth, new enterprise and government partnerships, and best-in-class AI infrastructure underscore our ability to drive meaningful scale and deliver attractive returns.”
“We ended the second quarter with $100 billion of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and $47.5 billion in backlog.”
Bret Johnsen, chief financial officer (CFO)
