SpaceX (SPCX) is having a good morning. The stock climbed nearly 2% in Tuesday's premarket session as investors get ready for the company's first public earnings report, which drops after the closing bell. The broader market is helping too, with Nasdaq futures up 0.67% and S&P 500 futures gaining 0.14%.

But the real story isn't just the quarterly numbers. Analysts are looking past the earnings release to the bigger picture: Starship, AI infrastructure, and how SpaceX plans to deploy its capital.

Analysts Focus On Starship And Long-Term Growth

Bernstein analysts told CNBC that Starship remains the key factor in justifying SpaceX's valuation, along with semiconductor access, regulatory approvals, and compute capacity. The firm recommends buying the stock with a $239 price forecast, arguing that quarterly results matter less than management's confidence in the company's growth path.

Not everyone is on board, though. Matthew Unterman, head of research at S3 Partners, told CNBC that short sellers have built one of the fastest and most aggressive bearish positions in a mega-cap name ahead of its first post-IPO earnings report. That's a lot of pessimism to overcome.

New Street Research analyst Ben Harwood sees the pullback as an opportunity. He told CNBC that the recent decline creates an attractive entry point for long-term investors, citing SpaceX's large growth runway and wide moat.

Cantor analysts are also optimistic, with a $246 price forecast. They say earnings could ease pressure if SpaceX shows hosted-compute profits, clarifies funding plans, and works through early lockup-related selling.

The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $229.96. Recent analyst moves include:

• RBC Capital: Outperform (Maintains forecast to $225.00) (Aug. 3)
• Macquarie: Outperform (Maintains forecast to $250.00) (Aug. 3)
• Macquarie: Outperform (Maintains forecast to $250.00) (July 31)

Top ETF Exposure

• Defiance US 100 Tech Ex Software ETF (XIGV): 3.79% Weight
• ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK): 4.66% Weight
• ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ): 5.93% Weight

Significance: Because SPCX carries significant weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock.

Price Action

SPCX Stock Price Activity: SpaceX shares were up 1.56% at $116.32 during premarket trading on Tuesday.