Episode summary
SpaceX Exceeds Revenue Estimates in First Earnings Since IPO | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Mandeep Singh, Ed Ludlow, Kate Gulliver, Richard Bourke
Summary
SpaceX’s first quarterly report as a public company showed revenue of $7.8 billion, ahead of Wall Street’s $6.81 billion estimate, while its AI business posted a $1.26 billion operating loss that was better than expected. The host and guests focused on what the release revealed about the company’s mix of businesses: Starlink remains the top-line driver, but AI infrastructure and compute rental may be becoming the faster-growing engine. Mandeep Singh argued that a $47.5 billion backlog, including expected business from Anthropic and Google, points to accelerating revenue growth over the next few quarters.
The discussion also centered on valuation and cash burn. Ed Ludlow said the release offered a first real look at the business after the IPO, but the disclosure was limited and left investors wanting more detail on guidance and governance. Singh said the company is investing heavily and is still generating negative free cash flow overall, though the AI rental business could eventually support margins and narrow the burn.
Later, the show turned to Wayfair, where CEO Kate Gulliver said US revenue grew nearly 9% and that the company is gaining share through stores, rewards, and higher-end brands. The final segment covered copper and tariffs, with Richard Bourke arguing that 50% steel tariffs are likely to stick, while higher aluminum tariffs are harder to sustain because the US lacks cheap power and domestic capacity.
Key takeaways
- SpaceX beat revenue expectations with $7.8 billion, but the company is still burning cash and relying on future AI growth to justify a $1.5 trillion valuation.
- Mandeep Singh said SpaceX’s $47.5 billion backlog suggests accelerating top-line growth for at least the next three quarters.
- Ed Ludlow said the limited earnings release leaves investors with less visibility than they get from Tesla-style shareholder materials.
- Wayfair’s Kate Gulliver said US revenue grew nearly 9% and that stores, rewards, and Paragold are helping the company gain share in a flat market.
- Richard Bourke said 50% steel tariffs are likely to stay, but aluminum is structurally harder to reshore because of power costs and capacity limits.
Notable quotes
“Revenue exceeded Wall Street's expectations, reported $7.8 billion”
“they really improve the economics of this business in the quarter of yes, it's a rocket company, but renting compute capacity to other technology companies”
“I mean, they reported a backlog number of 47.5 billion. That tells you most of the backlog is likely coming from AI”
“I mean they are investing 15 billion plus in capex every uh quarter and and they're not generating any uh free cash flow as of now”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily. Reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenbec on Bloomberg Radio.
Shares of SpaceX kind of bouncing around but muted in the after hours, barely up by about half a percent right now. The company out with its first report as a publicly traded company. Revenue exceeded Wall Street's expectations, reported $7.8 billion.
The company reported an operating loss though of $1.26 billion from its AI business. That's better than the consensus expectation. Shares have plunged since that IPO, raising more than a trillion dollars in market value from their peak.
I think we'll hear a lot more on the call when it starts a little later.
One can certainly hope. All right, let's get to it with our team. We've got a great team to kind of go through the numbers and the results and we're going to continue to kind of track as we get into the call.
Mandep Singh is with us right here in studio in our Bloomberg Interactive Broker studio. He's Bloomberg Intelligence global head of technology research and out there in our San Francisco news bureau is of course our own Ed Ledllo, host of Bloomberg Tech. Um, Ed, let me just kick it off with you.
What jumps out here? I know you're also on the live blog, but um, you know, investors just kind of reading through right now the stock is down just about 1% here.
Yeah, I mean, overall revenue and and sales came in above consensus, but you go into this saying this was the first quarterly earnings for SpaceX since they became a public company, and it will be their first earnings call.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- spacex earnings
- post-ipo volatility
- ai losses
- wayfair cfo
- copper tariffs
Companies and tickers mentioned
- W
- SpaceX
- Wayfair
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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