SPCX After-Hours Stock Price Falls as Capex Tests IPO Case

SpaceX shares fell 7.5% in US after-hours trading on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, after the company reported second-quarter revenue of $7.81 billion in its first earnings release as a public company. The stock had gained 9.4% during the regular session, leaving investors to reconcile a strong sales beat with a capital programme that now runs far ahead of quarterly revenue.

Revenue beat overshadowed by spending

The company’s official second-quarter update showed revenue rising 92% from $4.07 billion a year earlier. The result exceeded the $6.93 billion consensus estimate compiled by LSEG.

SpaceX still recorded a $541 million net loss. Its operating loss narrowed to $143 million from $970 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased to $3.54 billion from $1.21 billion.

The difficult number was capital expenditure. SpaceX spent $18.37 billion in the quarter, up from $2.83 billion a year earlier. AI accounted for $15.83 billion of that total.

That spending was equal to about $2.35 for every $1 of quarterly revenue and more than five times adjusted EBITDA. Those comparisons explain the market’s caution more clearly than the earnings beat alone.

The company ended June with about $100 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. At the second-quarter spending pace, that amount equals roughly five and a half quarters of capital expenditure before operating inflows, debt service, taxes, or acquisitions are considered.

Finance chief Bret Johnsen said capital spending was expected to remain at similar levels for the next couple of quarters. The selloff therefore reflected a multi-quarter funding question rather than a single burst of construction spending.

Starlink carries less of the burden than the headline suggests

Connectivity revenue reached $4.29 billion, or about 55% of total sales. The segment’s revenue rose 66% and operating income increased 79% to $1.66 billion.

Starlink subscribers doubled to 12 million, while average monthly revenue per subscriber fell from $85 to $66. The lower figure reflects expansion into more international markets and lower-priced plans.

The subscriber growth is substantial. The cash comparison is less comfortable.

Connectivity operating income covered less than one-tenth of total quarterly capital expenditure. Even a profitable Starlink business cannot, at its current scale, finance the full buildout across AI infrastructure, Starship, and the satellite network from one quarter’s operating profit.

SpaceX’s AI segment produced $2.56 billion in revenue and a $1.26 billion operating loss. It also reported $14.1 billion in contracted cloud-services sales, which gives management a visible pipeline but does not convert the full amount into immediate revenue or cash.

“We’re building AI compute capacity at scale faster than anyone else, we believe, and we’re significantly improving our AI models,” Elon Musk said on the post-earnings call, according to a report published after the results.

The accounts show the choice facing shareholders. SpaceX is using the balance-sheet strength created by its IPO and bond sale to build several capital-intensive businesses at once. The revenue growth is real, and so is the cost of reaching the next stage.

The drop was smaller than traders had priced

Options traders had prepared for a move of roughly 15% in either direction before the earnings release, according to an options-market analysis. The 7.5% after-hours fall was about half that implied move.

The distinction matters because the stock entered earnings with bearish positioning already crowded. About 63% of the free float was on loan, based on Ortex data cited in the analysis.

Before Tuesday’s 9.4% regular-session gain, SPCX stood at $114.53, down 43% from its $201.80 closing peak. The after-hours reaction added pressure, but it did not produce the full volatility shock that options prices had signalled.

High short interest can magnify either a selloff or a rebound. In this case, the earnings reaction reflected both a judgment on valuation and the mechanics of an unusually crowded trade.

Spending meets share supply

A second pressure arrives this week through the IPO lockup.

The earnings release cleared the way for about 911.5 million shares held by insiders, employees, and early investors to become eligible for sale after August 6, according to the same options-market analysis. Eligibility does not mean those shares will all be sold.

Capital expenditure and the lockup affect the stock through different channels. Heavy spending reduces the near-term cash that can be retained or returned. A larger tradable float can increase available supply and give early holders a route to realise gains.

The two pressures meet at the valuation. New buyers are being asked to fund a long-duration investment programme while also absorbing the possibility of more shares entering the market.

That is a more demanding setup than an ordinary earnings miss. SpaceX beat the revenue forecast, yet the market still has to decide what price compensates for years of spending and a changing ownership base.

The IPO price is the immediate benchmark

SpaceX completed its IPO on June 15, 2026, at $135 a share. The company’s closing announcement said it sold 638,888,888 Class A shares and received approximately $85.7 billion in proceeds.

The SEC filing for the completed offering confirms the share count, the $135 offer price, and the SPCX ticker.

Second-quarter capital expenditure was equivalent to about 21% of the IPO proceeds stated by the company. That is an unusually fast deployment of newly raised capital, even before the $60 billion planned acquisition of Cursor is considered.

SPCX remained below the offer price after the earnings reaction. The $135 level now serves as a public verdict on whether the company’s growth, liquidity, and contracted sales are sufficient to justify the speed of investment.

Thursday’s supply test

The first public quarter produced a mixed but measurable picture. Revenue grew 92%, adjusted EBITDA nearly tripled, and Starlink remained profitable at the operating level. SpaceX also posted a $541 million net loss and spent $18.37 billion on capital projects.

The next confirmed event is the initial lockup release after Thursday, August 6. The market will then have to judge the spending plan with a potentially larger supply of tradable shares.

The immediate test is specific. SPCX must recover toward its $135 IPO price while management sustains a capital programme that exceeded twice the company’s quarterly revenue.