SpaceX posts strong third-quarter results as Motley Fool says it is not too late to buy

Third-quarter results beat expectations

The Motley Fool reports that on Oct. 20, SpaceX disclosed its 2026 third-quarter earnings and posted results that were better than analyst estimates tracked by CNBC. Revenue reached $14.5 billion, above the expected $12.7 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.45, compared with the $0.13 estimate. The company also reported net income of $4.4 billion, reversing a prior-year net loss of more than $1 billion.

The stock has already moved sharply

The article says investors who bought SpaceX after it began trading publicly in June have already seen large price swings. Shares opened at $150 on June 12 and closed at $211.39 on June 16. The stock later fell to as low as $104.83 on Aug. 3. It then climbed again, closing at $171.92 on Oct. 6, before slipping to $147.79 on Oct. 20. After the earnings report, shares opened at $160.56 on Oct. 21. The Motley Fool says this history shows that owning the stock requires conviction and the ability to withstand steep, fast declines.

SpaceX says its opportunity is much larger than space

Before going public, SpaceX was widely seen as a space company, but The Motley Fool notes that the company described a much broader opportunity in its S-1 filing. SpaceX said its total addressable market was $28.5 trillion, with $26.5 trillion tied to artificial intelligence. The article says its AI division produced $7.6 billion in revenue, up from $813 million in the prior-year period, and that this segment accounted for more than half of total revenue.

Long-term plans still need time to scale

The Motley Fool says SpaceX still has a long way to go to capture more of the AI market it outlined. The company may have a first-mover advantage in building space-based data center infrastructure, the article says, but scaling that business will take time. It also notes that SpaceX filed an application to launch 1 million satellites to serve as data centers, and that the earliest expected launch timing is 2028.

The article’s view on buying now

The Motley Fool concludes that even if the stock rises after earnings, it is still likely to experience ups and downs. It adds that SpaceX remains in the early stages of pursuing the AI opportunities it identified. For investors willing to hold for the long term and tolerate volatility, the article says it is not too late to buy SpaceX stock or invest in an exchange-traded fund that owns it.