Is SPCX Worth Buying as Starlink Growth Battles Heavy AI Spending?

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. SPCX combines a fast-growing Starlink franchise, expanding AI monetization and a launch platform built around reusable rockets. Those businesses give the company multiple paths to growth, but they also demand unusually large investments.

The central question is whether improving operating momentum can justify heavy spending and a valuation that already reflects substantial future growth.

Starlink Gives SPCX Its Clearest Earnings Support

Connectivity remains SpaceX’s largest revenue contributor and its only segment generating operating income. Second-quarter 2026 revenues rose 65.8% year over year to $4.29 billion, while operating income increased 79.4% to $1.66 billion.

Starlink subscribers doubled to 12 million and segment adjusted EBITDA reached $2.60 billion. Consumer revenues grew 44.4% to $2.49 billion, while Enterprise & Government revenues more than doubled to $1.81 billion, broadening the earnings base beyond households.

SPCX AI Growth Expands the Upside Case

AI revenues jumped 247.5% year over year to $2.56 billion, driven largely by new cloud-services agreements. Segment adjusted EBITDA turned positive at $1.15 billion from a $276 million loss in the year-ago quarter.

Nameplate compute reached 1.4 gigawatts as of June 30, 2026, up from 0.4 gigawatt a year earlier. SpaceX expects capacity to exceed 2 gigawatts by year-end, giving the company more infrastructure to support AI services.

SpaceX's Capex Cycle Raises the Return Hurdle

Second-quarter capital expenditures reached $18.37 billion, including $15.83 billion for AI infrastructure. Management expects spending in each of the next two quarters to remain near the second-quarter level, keeping capital efficiency central to returns.

SpaceX ended June with about $100 billion of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. That liquidity provides substantial funding capacity, but the company still reported a $541 million quarterly net loss despite generating $3.54 billion of adjusted EBITDA.

SPCX Valuation Leaves Little Room for Execution Misses

Traditional peer comparisons are imperfect because SpaceX spans launch, satellite broadband and AI infrastructure. Even so, its enterprise value to EBITDA ratio of 335.36 and price-to-book ratio of 11.81 indicate a demanding valuation relative to conventional public-market benchmarks.

Rocket Lab Corporation RKLB, an end-to-end space company providing launch services and space systems, offers context for the launch side of SpaceX’s model. AST SpaceMobile, Inc. ASTS, which is building space-based cellular broadband for standard smartphones, provides a relevant connectivity comparison.

Starship and Mobile Execution Still Matter for SpaceX

Starship remains central to the long-term plan. The vehicle is designed to quadruple payload capacity and reduce launch costs tenfold versus Falcon 9, but SpaceX must still advance reusable operations, regulatory approvals and launch cadence.

Starlink Mobile adds another execution layer. SpaceX plans to integrate 65 megahertz of EchoStar spectrum later in 2027, while next-generation mobile satellites are expected to begin flying in 2027 and commercial service is targeted for year-end 2027.

SPCX Scores Point to a Wait-and-See Setup

SPCX offers meaningful growth drivers, but the current setup remains balanced. Starlink profitability and AI expansion are offsets to heavy capital requirements, execution dependencies and a valuation that raises the cost of operating disappointments.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), along with a VGM Score of D, Value Score of F, Growth Score of C and Momentum Score of A. The favorable Momentum Score contrasts with weaker value and combined VGM characteristics, supporting patience while newer platforms demonstrate more consistent returns.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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