First public earnings call set for August 4
SpaceX will report second-quarter results after the market close on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first public financial disclosure since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio-only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET on X, with no dial-in option, a tightly controlled rollout for the company's inaugural earnings presentation as a newly public entity. Wall Street estimates compiled by Motley Fool point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per-share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier. Investors also expect forward guidance and detail on how the Starlink, launch and AI segments are performing independently, though SpaceX has never offered public guidance before.
Louisiana spaceport agreement nears announcement
Louisiana is in the final stages of a deal to bring SpaceX to coastal Vermilion Parish, where the company plans to build a new spaceport on roughly 130,000 acres near Pecan Island, about 45 miles southwest of Lafayette. Governor Jeff Landry is expected to announce the agreement this month. The land transfer stems from a coastal-lawsuit settlement under which ExxonMobil is expected to turn over land it has owned in Vermilion Parish since the 1950s; SpaceX would then take control, potentially through sale, long-term lease or other arrangement, with provisions for coastal restoration and protection. SpaceX declined to comment but referenced a prior statement on X saying it is "constantly exploring to find viable sites to expand Starship operations." Separately, the FAA last week proposed rule changes that would waive 13 laws governing commercial launch licensing, including the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, a move experts say could help pave the way for the Louisiana project.
Starship Flight 13 survives reentry; Starlink V3 captures in-orbit footage
SpaceX released video on August 1 showing Starship filmed from a Starlink V3 satellite that separated from the vehicle during its thirteenth flight test, which launched July 24 from Starbase after a scrubbed attempt and an abort the week before. The 65-second clip stitches footage from four cameras mounted on a single V3 satellite, opening on a close view of the 171-foot upper stage catching sunlight before separation. Flight 13 deployed all 20 Starlink V3 satellites, relit a Raptor engine in space, and splashed down softly in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia with enough structural integrity to float afterward, a notable reentry milestone discussed on this week's This Week In Space podcast. SpaceX notified regulators earlier this year that it intends to launch up to 1 million low-Earth-orbit satellites, and a recent FCC filing outlines a Starlink V3 constellation plan of 100,000 satellites, with each Starship flight designed to carry up to 60 V3 satellites once routine.
Starlink constellation expands as AI compute deals add a revenue line
The Starlink network stood at 12,644 satellites launched, with 10,898 in orbit and 10,882 operational as of August 2. A Falcon 9 launched 24 additional Starlink satellites late on July 31 from Vandenberg Space Force Base as part of the Group 17-52 mission, with the booster landing on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You." SpaceX has entered into agreements with Anthropic and Alphabet to sell AI compute at its data centers, a segment analysts say could annualize to nearly $28 billion if contracts fully ramp. Investors will scrutinize how much of the AI segment's revenue reflects those signings and whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau.
Shares retreat ahead of historic lockup expiration
SpaceX shares closed down 3.4% on Friday at $108.37, down about 44% from their all-time high of $225.64 and roughly 30% below the $150 market entry. Two trading days after the August 4 earnings release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX's lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares worth well over $100 billion at current prices, the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30% above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that threshold. Elon Musk also publicly denied a recent Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla's China business ahead of a potential Tesla–SpaceX merger; whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the August 4 call remains uncertain.
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