SpaceX just dropped its first earnings report as a public company, and it's a lot to unpack. The headline numbers are strong: revenue nearly doubled, losses were smaller than expected, and the backlog is massive. But the market's initial reaction? A 6% drop in after-hours trading. Let's dig into the details.

SpaceX Q2 Earnings

For the second quarter, SpaceX reported revenue of $7.81 billion, a 92% jump year-over-year. That beat the Street consensus of $6.93 billion, according to market data. The company also posted a loss of nine cents per share, which was better than the expected loss of 24 cents per share.

Here's how the revenue breaks down by segment:

• Space: $962 million, up 29% year-over-year
• Connectivity: $4.29 billion, up 66% year-over-year
• AI: $2.56 billion, up 247% year-over-year

But revenue is only part of the story. Operating income tells a different tale:

• Space: -$542 million
• Connectivity: +$1.66 billion
• AI: -$1.26 billion

So Connectivity is the cash cow, while Space and AI are burning through money. That's not unusual for a company investing heavily in future growth, but it's worth noting.

During the quarter, SpaceX also highlighted some operational wins: two successful Starship V3 flight tests in the last 90 days, $14.1 billion in contracted cloud service agreements, and Starlink subscribers doubling year-over-year to 12 million. The company has completed 78 launches so far this year, and Starlink now serves 167 countries.

One interesting line item: digital assets, which include the company's Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, were $1.1 billion at the end of the quarter, down from $1.6 billion the previous quarter. That's a notable drop, though the company didn't elaborate on whether it sold or the value just fluctuated.

"2026 has been a momentous year so far, and the second quarter demonstrated the true power of SpaceX," CFO Bret Johnsen said in the release.

What's Next for SpaceX

Looking ahead, SpaceX is sitting on a pile of cash. The company ended the quarter with $100 billion in cash and cash equivalents. And the total backlog? A whopping $47.5 billion. That's a lot of future revenue already locked in.

"This financial strength gives us substantial capacity to invest in Starship, Starlink Broadband and Mobile satellites, and our AI platform, while maintaining a disciplined long-term capital allocation framework," Johnsen added.

So the plan is clear: keep spending on big bets while the balance sheet can handle it.

SpaceX Stock Price Action

Despite the strong results, SpaceX stock is down 6.20% to $117.56 in after-hours trading Tuesday. That's within its 52-week range of $104.83 to $225.64. The company went public at $135 per share, with shares opening at $150 on the first day of trading.

So the stock is now trading below its IPO price. That might seem odd given the earnings beat, but it's not uncommon for stocks to sell off after a big run-up or if investors were expecting even more. The after-hours move suggests some profit-taking or disappointment that the numbers weren't even better.

It's also worth remembering that this is a company with huge ambitions and equally huge costs. The AI segment, while growing fast, is still losing over a billion dollars a quarter. And the Space segment is also in the red. The market might be pricing in the long road to profitability.

Still, with a $47.5 billion backlog and $100 billion in cash, SpaceX has plenty of runway. The question is whether investors have the patience to wait for the vision to pay off.