SpaceX beat estimates in its Q3 report and Elon Musk openly backed a merger with Tesla, sending shares up 9% on Wednesday, but a tech sell-off erased the gain on Thursday. Connectivity revenue, mostly from Starlink, rose 69% to $5.2 billion, and Starlink added 1.6 million subscribers, bringing the total to just under 14 million broadband consumer subscribers. Bloomberg reported SpaceX is looking to lease space on 80,000 US cell sites and is in talks with Crown Castle and American Tower. Both companies have formed special committees to explore a combination worth about $3.5 trillion, which needs approval from 50% of Tesla shareholders, while Reuters reported Musk's endorsement could delay the process by weeks. Shares are up 1% for the week, and Thursday's slide also came as about 911.5 million insider shares became eligible for sale.
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SpaceXTSLAElon Muskmergers and acquisitionsStarlink
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Related tickers and likely impact
QQQ
▼ Likely negativeInvesco QQQ Trust
Relevance: high
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/22/2026 | 704.59 |
| Change that session | -2.84% |
SPY
▼ Likely negativeSPDR S&P 500 ETF
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | ETF |
| Close on 10/22/2026 | 764.02 |
| Change that session | -1.17% |
TSLA
▼ Likely negativeTesla, Inc.
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Automobile Manufacturers |
| Market cap | $1.4T |
| Close on 10/22/2026 | 374.67 |
| Change that session | -3.05% |
NVDA
▼ Likely negativeNvidia
Relevance: low
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Information Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Market cap | $5.2T |
| Close on 10/22/2026 | 212.28 |
| Change that session | -4.36% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
Related news
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Shares of Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX) were down about 3.5% as of 10:50 a.m. ET, after recovering from early lows. The drop followed Elon Musk's social media posts after Ukrainian officials said restrictions on Starlink use were hurting its defenses against Russia. Musk said the Pentagon and ultimately President Trump controlled the military service, and he criticized President Zelensky in a post, which could alienate Starlink's customers. Starlink has over 10,000 satellites in orbit and 12 million customers in 167 countries as of the end of Q2, and it is SpaceX's only profitable segment, accounting for 60% of revenue in the first half of 2026. The author argues the online comments are mostly noise and that a meaningful drop could be a good opportunity for long-term investors.
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SpaceX shares rose after a third-quarter report beat estimates and Elon Musk openly backed a possible merger with Tesla, but a Thursday tech sell-off erased those gains. Connectivity revenue, mostly from Starlink, climbed 69% to $5.2 billion, and Starlink added 1.6 million subscribers, bringing broadband consumer subscribers to just under 14 million. Bloomberg reported SpaceX is in talks with Crown Castle and American Tower to lease space on 80,000 US cell sites to build out a terrestrial network. SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to explore a combination worth about $3.5 trillion, though Musk flagged the hurdle of approval from 50% of Tesla shareholders and Reuters reported his endorsement could delay the process by weeks. The Thursday slide also came as about 911.5 million insider shares became eligible for sale.
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