SpaceX shares rallied after third-quarter results beat expectations, and founder Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to study a possible merger, while cautioning that a deal should not be assumed. In contrast, six space stocks expected to benefit from a SpaceX listing are all lower since April 20, with declines ranging from 16.2% at Redwire to 63.4% at Planet Labs. The article ranks them on second-quarter execution: AST SpaceMobile and Intuitive Machines missed estimates or saw losses widen, while BlackSky, Redwire, Planet Labs and Rocket Lab beat revenue consensus. Rocket Lab posted record revenue of $234.07 million and a $2.36 billion backlog, and investors are watching when its Neutron rocket reaches the launch pad, targeted for Q4 2026.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
SpaceXmergers and acquisitionsElon Muskspace industry
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related news
- Rocket Lab Just Had the Worst Week in Its History. Here's What I'd Do With the Stock Now.
Rocket Lab shares fell 23% from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16, their worst weekly drop since the company went public five years ago. Two setbacks drove the decline: the first Neutron launch was pushed from the end of 2026 to 2027 due to a defect in a carbon-composite tank, and Ligado Networks challenged the FCC over Rocket Lab's planned $8 billion takeover of Iridium. Launch Services generated 19% of revenue in the latest quarter, while Space Systems accounted for 81%. Backlog reached $2.36 billion at the end of the second quarter, more than double the projected $959 million in 2026 revenue, and analysts expect revenue of $1.33 billion in 2027 and $1.74 billion in 2028. With a $30.5 billion market cap, the stock trades at 32 times sales and is expected to stay unprofitable until 2028; the author suggests waiting for clearer Neutron progress and the closing of the Iridium deal before buying.
- Why Rocket Lab's Recent Fall Is Overblown
Rocket Lab shares fell more than 25% as of Oct. 16, after a small manufacturing defect pushed the Neutron rocket launch back to 2027 and Space Exploration Technologies' momentum added pressure. The author argues the drop is overblown: the company has a backlog above $2.3 billion, with about 45% expected to convert into revenue within a year. Second-quarter revenue rose 62%, and the third quarter looks set to keep that growth even without Neutron. The space systems segment, which covers components, satellites and spacecraft, remains Rocket Lab's main source of revenue. The author sees the dip as an opportunity, while noting the stock is still a high-risk investment.
- Stocktwits Space Race Weekly: SPCX Weathers Selloff Better Than ASTS, RKLB And FLY — RDW Fares Best
This week SPCX fell 9%, less than ASTS (13%), RKLB and FLY (19% each), while RDW's 6.99% decline was the smallest in the group. The FCC authorized a 15,000-satellite direct-to-device constellation for SpaceX, which agreed to buy Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz spectrum for a reported $8 billion, though the deal needs FCC approval and the company faces political scrutiny, including Ukraine's claim that service restrictions disrupted drone operations. Rocket Lab pushed Neutron's first flight to 2027 after finding air pockets in a first-stage propellant tank dome, and its shares fell 7% to $55.25, extending a seven-session losing streak. Deutsche Bank upgraded ASTS to Buy with a $93 target, while Piper Sandler downgraded it to Neutral with a $54 target. Redwire announced several updates, including about $13.8 million in additional Stalker drone orders for the National Guard.
- Could a Tesla-SpaceX merger really be the next big move for Elon Musk?
Two speakers discuss a possible Tesla-SpaceX merger and the outlook for Tesla stock. Speaker A argues that SpaceX, which he calls a vertically integrated AI company, would make a powerful combination, and says he will keep focusing on Tesla's Megapack business, which is sold out in utility-grade battery storage, as well as Optimus. He says he bought in at about $100 a share three years ago and sees volatility as a friend given his long-term perspective. Speaker B views Tesla's recent results as mixed to negative, with profit down over 40%, flat revenue, and better free cash flow mainly because capital spending was cut. He says Tesla is behind Waymo in autonomous driving (800 versus 8,000) and behind China in humanoid robots, and suggests a merger could be interesting and might benefit Tesla shareholders.
- SpaceX stock slips as tech trade tumbles
SpaceX (SPCX) shares slipped early Thursday, giving back more than half of Wednesday's 7.8% post-earnings gain as the broader tech trade fell after Meta's results and fresh headlines about the US/Israeli war with Iran. SpaceX guided fourth-quarter capex to $35 billion to $40 billion, up from $19.6 billion in the third quarter, and ended the quarter with $36.1 billion in debt; its CFO said the company is investment grade. Musk said a SpaceX–Tesla tie-up would be a “good idea,” but both companies have formed special committees, and insiders worry the resulting scrutiny could delay talks by several weeks. Bloomberg reported the companies aim to announce a deal in the first half of 2027, while JPMorgan more than doubled its price target to $500 from $240 and BofA raised its target to $275 from $235.
- Did Wall Street forget about Tesla's Cybercab?
Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi discusses Tesla (TSLA)'s Cybercab expansion and its relevance amid a possible merger with SpaceX (SPCX). Elon pointed to 2 million cumulative unsupervised robotaxi miles by quarter-end, Austin operating hours now run 6:00 a.m. to midnight, and more Cybercabs are expected in more cities in coming months. The Austin Cybercab fleet has grown by a factor of 10 since launch about a month ago. Tesla shares fell partly because the company cut capex by $5 billion, which Sozzi attributes to Optimus robot production bottlenecks rather than the Cybercab. He argues that with merger talks being explored, investors should start thinking of SpaceX and Tesla as one company.
Related markets
Latest news
- Optics Stocks Tumble as Tech Selloff Deepens Ahead of Earnings: Coherent Tumbles 12%, Applied Optoelectronics Drops 10%, Lumentum Falls 9%
Optical networking stocks that drove the AI data-center rally fell sharply as a broader tech selloff deepened ahead of earnings. Coherent (COHR) traded at $209.82, down 12%, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) fell 10% to $69.30, and Lumentum (LITE) dropped 9% to $770.53. The Roundhill Photonics & Optics ETF (LYTE) lost 10%, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell only 2%, suggesting group-wide caution. The article notes these shares still sit higher for the year, and Lumentum's CEO said its data center optical components are sold out for years. Quarterly reports from the three companies arriving in coming weeks will show whether capacity can keep pace with demand.
- Does SpaceX’s $8 Billion Spectrum Deal Mean Verizon’s Q3 Earnings Don’t Really Matter?
Verizon reports third-quarter results on October 26, days after SpaceX announced a roughly $8 billion deal for nationwide 800 MHz spectrum, which the author says makes the report more important. Last quarter, Verizon beat with adjusted EPS of $1.30 against a $1.27 consensus, while revenue fell 0.7% to $34.25 billion as equipment revenue dropped nearly 20% on a deliberate pullback on subsidies. The core business improved, with 184,000 postpaid phone net adds, churn at 0.92%, and a record 40.1% adjusted EBITDA margin, and full-year adjusted EPS guidance was raised to $4.99 to $5.04. The author will watch whether service revenue growth nears 3% in Q3 and about 4% in Q4, and whether consumer postpaid phone churn of 84 basis points holds as SpaceX's service is expected to start in early 2028 after the deal closes in the first half of 2027.
- Altimeter’s Gerstner: Scale wins superintelligence race as SpaceX plans $400B compute buildout
Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner says whoever has the most scale, capital, compute and data will win the race to superintelligence, as SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) closed at $159.31 on October 21, up 7.79%, after reporting third-quarter revenue of $14.60 billion. He says Elon Musk plans 10 GW of computing power next year, about 25% of U.S. capacity additions and roughly $400 billion of capital, with SpaceX now installing 200,000 GB300 chips a month. Gerstner sees a possible merger with Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) mainly as a way to finance that spending, and he argues that lenders value standard NVIDIA GPUs more easily than custom chips, giving NVIDIA pricing power when credit is tight. The article warns that SPCX shareholders bear spending, depreciation and execution risks at a $2.10 trillion market cap.
- Bloom Energy Sinks 9% as Pre-Earnings Rally Reverses; FuelCell Drops 6%, Plug Power Falls 3%
Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) shares fell 9% to $218.09 in afternoon trading, giving back their October 21 gain as caution builds ahead of its third-quarter 2026 report. FuelCell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) dropped 6% to $12.36 and Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) fell 3% to $1.37, with the Global X Hydrogen ETF (NASDAQ:HYDR) down 4% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) off 1%. The article links the size of each drop to how heavily each company depends on data center demand, since Bloom Energy sells fuel cell systems for on-site data center power while FuelCell builds utility-scale plants and Plug Power focuses on hydrogen for warehouse and industrial users. After a large run this year, Bloom Energy's expectations are elevated, and its report will show whether margins keep pace with data center demand.
- Behind Vingroup's appeal: The lead bird driving Vietnam's stock market
Vingroup (VIC) shares rose more than 11% over two consecutive sessions, adding over 40 points to the VN-Index, while the Vingroup group (VIC, VHM, VPL, VRE) contributed 54 points, or 80% of the index's gain over those two sessions. On October 22 alone, foreign investors net bought VND 240 billion of VIC, the largest on the exchange, and VND 160 billion of VHM. This inflow follows FTSE Russell's upgrade of Vietnam to secondary emerging market status from September 21, with emerging-market ETFs potentially investing over USD 2 billion through September 2027, nearly USD 1 billion of which could go to VIC and VHM. The article also cites private-sector growth prospects, the government's goal of double-digit GDP growth for 2026–2030, and State Bank of Vietnam measures to lower lending and deposit rates as supportive factors for large conglomerates like Vingroup.
- Elon Musk reportedly invests about $1 billion in Skydance
Elon Musk has reportedly invested about $1 billion in Skydance, according to Semafor, as the company looks to cut costs. Paramount closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Oct. 6 and named the combined entity Skydance. Co-CEOs David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz must merge two film studios, two streaming platforms and many corporate functions. Skydance expects $6 billion in cost savings over three years but faces nearly $80 billion in debt, and its shares fell about 1% after the report. Larry Ellison, David's father, previously invested $1 billion in Musk's 2022 deal to buy Twitter.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.