SpaceX shares shot up more than 8% Wednesday morning after a better-than-expected earnings report and CEO Elon Musk’s revelation that SpaceX and Tesla had formed special committees to discuss a potential merger.
Asked about the long-rumored tie-up on an earnings call Tuesday, Musk voiced support for the idea while emphasizing that any deal would be decided by shareholders. “This is definitely kind of a question where I feel like I’m tap dancing through a minefield… but I do think there’s a lot of merit to combining the companies.”
He added that a merger would be “a good idea,” and that “there’s a lot to be gained” from the two companies cooperating on AI software development, chip design and robotics.
As a “conflicted party,” Musk said, he cannot be a part of the committee discussions. Historically, Tesla shareholders have broadly fallen in line with Musk’s wishes, however.
The comments appeared to be the most forceful Musk has made publicly. When asked about a potential deal following SpaceX’s blockbuster July IPO, Musk didn’t offer an opinion one way or another, saying “obviously… we can’t talk about combining companies and that kind of thing on an earnings call. It’s got to be done with the appropriate process.”
Tesla shares rose more than 2% Wednesday morning.
Investors were also cheering SpaceX’s better-than-expected earnings report. The rocket, satellite internet and AI company brought in net income of $4.4 billion in the most recent quarter, swinging to a profit after back-to-back quarters of losses this year.
In its second earnings report since going public, SpaceX said it brought in $14.6 billion — up 161% year-over-year, according to the company, driven by what it called its “Super Intelligence” segment and its Starlink satellite-internet business.
The big questions about who’s to blame for Starshield disruptions in Ukraine
Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected net income of $1.57 billion, with revenue of $12.9 billion. SpaceX reported earnings per share of 35 cents Tuesday, versus 14 cents forecast by analysts.
Moments before the earnings call Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal published a report saying that Musk “ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink” that blindsided Ukrainian officials.
Musk during the call did not address the Journal report, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. CNN couldn’t immediately verify the veracity of the report.
SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Ukraine accused SpaceX last week of severely hindering its defense by suddenly limiting its Starlink internet service, which uses satellites in low orbit. Ukraine has used Starlink and a related military-grade service, Starshield , to communicate quickly and to both launch and prevent drone attacks.
While Musk repeatedly suggested the White House was to blame for the disruption, the Trump administration has denied responsibility. On X, Musk emphasized that Starshield was “owned and controlled by the US government” and that “any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS.”
