Intro: Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said the company’s new computing investments yielded returns under a year
New York
SpaceX shares fell sharply on Wednesday despite the company reporting faster-than-expected returns from its massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure during its first earnings call as a publicly listed company.
The stock declined 9% in premarket trading, falling well below its $135 initial public offering price less than two months after its blockbuster market debut. Investors remained concerned about whether the company’s profitable Starlink business could continue supporting the heavy costs of data centres, advanced computing systems and Nvidia chips.
SpaceX reported quarterly capital expenditure of $18.4 billion, including $15.8 billion invested in AI infrastructure. Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said the company’s new computing investments were generating returns in less than a year, significantly faster than traditional data-centre projects.
The company signed an additional $6.7 billion in cloud-computing contracts since the end of the second quarter and expects to reach a $100 billion annualised revenue run rate by the end of the year.
SpaceX’s AI business generated $2.6 billion in second-quarter revenue, more than three times its revenue a year earlier. However, the division remained loss-making on an operating basis as the company continued expanding its computing infrastructure.
Executives said demand for AI computing capacity continued to exceed supply. SpaceX expects its total compute capacity to surpass two gigawatts by the end of the year.
The company does not plan to reduce spending, with capital expenditure over the next two quarters expected to remain close to second-quarter levels. Investments will support AI computing expansion, Starship production and next-generation Starlink satellites.
Investors are weighing rapid AI revenue growth and strong demand against concerns over high spending, negative free cash flow and the company’s ability to meet ambitious targets.
