Wall Street Lifts SpaceX Valuations After Record Quarterly Earnings and Guidance

Investors in SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) saw the company's shares rise sharply in premarket trading on October 21, following the release of its third-quarter financial results for 2026. The stock climbed roughly 8 percent in early trading, moving from its previous close of $147.79 on October 20. This increase came as Wall Street analysts responded to the company's quarterly performance by raising their valuation targets for the shares.

The company reported revenue of $14.6 billion, which represents a 161 percent increase compared to the same period last year and exceeded analyst expectations of approximately $12.7 billion. SpaceX also recorded a net profit of $4.4 billion, reversing a loss from the prior year, while adjusted EBITDA reached $8.8 billion.

Following the company's earnings call, several financial institutions increased their projected stock values. JPMorgan raised its target from $240 to $500, while Cantor Fitzgerald moved its projection from $246 to $345. Barclays and Morgan Stanley both set targets at $300, and Wells Fargo raised its target from $214 to $274. Other adjustments came from Citi, UBS, TD Cowen, and Clear Street. Analysts cited the strong financial results, growth in AI compute expansion, Starlink progress, and Starship milestones as reasons for the higher long-term growth forecasts.

During the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk and CFO Bret Johnsen provided revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2027 between $33 billion and $37 billion. This projection is significantly higher than the approximately $22 billion that analysts had previously modeled. The company also outlined plans for fourth-quarter capital expenditures of $35 billion to $40 billion, directed toward AI compute infrastructure projects in locations such as Memphis and Southaven.

The company's Super Intelligence division generated approximately $7.6 billion, becoming the largest source of revenue with a year-over-year growth of nearly 830 percent. The Connectivity segment reported $5.2 billion in revenue, supported by subscriber growth that increased the Starlink consumer base to 13.6 million.

Management discussed plans to reach 2.5 to 3 gigawatts of nameplate compute capacity by the end of the year, with potential pathways to 13 gigawatts or more by the end of 2027. Musk described demand from hyperscalers and other customers as relentless, noting that compute pricing supports payback periods of less than a year.

The call also touched on recent Starship orbital success, V3 satellite deployment, Starlink pricing, and the formation of special committees to explore a possible combination with Tesla. These elements contributed to the wave of price-target increases across various financial institutions.

While the average analyst price target has moved higher, reflecting conviction in SpaceX's trajectory across launch, connectivity, and the Super Intelligence business, elevated spending remains a point of focus for observers.