#spacex

SpaceX shares fell about 9% and Tesla about 11% on Thursday afternoon, November 5, and by the close the two companies had lost about $456 billion in combined market value since Tuesday's election, CNBC reports. The drop came alongside a broad tech selloff.

Elon Musk was the biggest donor to Republican candidates and causes in the midterms, with more than $470 million, according to the Financial Times, and most of the candidates he backed lost. In Texas, where both companies are headquartered, Democrats won the Senate and governor races; Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa campaigned on a moratorium on new data center approvals. Deutsche Bank analysts wrote that SpaceX could face 'incremental headwinds' and that its Texas compute capacity, including the planned Terafab chip and data center site in Grimes County, could be delayed.

CNBC also reports that, citing CNN, Musk and SpaceX have been told to preserve records on Starlink restrictions in Ukraine, and that regulatory scrutiny could complicate Musk's idea of merging the two companies.

SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) reported third-quarter revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161% from $5.6 billion a year earlier, with net income of $4.4 billion against a $1.1 billion loss, according to its earnings release on October 20.

CNBC reports that the AI unit, which SpaceX calls "Super Intelligence," is now its largest business: revenue rose about ninefold to $7.56 billion, helped by renting computing capacity to Google, Anthropic and others and by the Cursor acquisition. Starlink subscribers reached 13.6 million, and the launch business grew only slightly, to $1.77 billion. CFO Bret Johnsen guided first-quarter 2027 revenue to $33 billion to $37 billion, far above the roughly $22 billion analysts expected, per LSEG.

On the call, Elon Musk said a merger with Tesla would be a "good idea" and that both boards have formed special committees to discuss it. The shares climbed about 8% in extended trading after the release, CNBC reports.

SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14 MHz of paired 800 MHz spectrum nationwide from Grain Management, pending FCC approval; the Wall Street Journal reported the price at about $8 billion in cash. SpaceX says the low-band airwaves, which reach inside buildings, will let Starlink Mobile serve ordinary phones indoors and out. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell, together losing about $39 billion in market value, Benzinga reports, while tower owners Crown Castle and American Tower rose.