SpaceX has achieved a major financial milestone by earning investment-grade credit ratings from Moody's, Fitch, and S&P Global, positioning the company to borrow more cheaply as it funds massive expansion plans. The endorsements arrived just days after the company's record-breaking initial public offering (IPO) on June 12, 2026, which raised approximately $85.7 billion, the largest in history. However, the ratings did little to stabilize the stock, which fell sharply from its peak of $225.60 to close at $185 on Thursday, June 19, representing an 18% decline as investors reassessed the company's lofty valuation.

What Do the Credit Ratings Say About SpaceX's Financial Health?

Moody's assigned SpaceX a Baa1 long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook, citing the firm's "exceptional franchise strength" as the world's leading orbital launch provider and operator of Starlink, the largest low Earth orbit satellite broadband network. Notably, this rating is slightly higher than Tesla's Baa3 rating, prompting Elon Musk to comment on social media that "Tesla's credit rating is ridiculously low to be honest". Fitch issued a BBB+ rating, emphasizing SpaceX's commanding lead in commercial launch, where it has delivered more than 80% of global mass to orbit since 2023. S&P Global assigned a BBB rating with a stable outlook, weighing the strength of the launch and connectivity businesses against the risks of the nascent artificial intelligence (AI) segment and the company's substantial capital needs.

According to Moody's analysis, Starlink has become SpaceX's primary cash flow generator, underpinning improving scale, wider margins, and a gradual shift away from more cyclical launch revenue. The agency projects strong revenue and earnings growth through 2028, driven chiefly by Starlink, which counted 12 million subscribers as of early June, alongside an expected turning point in the AI division. Moody's cited recent third-party compute deals with Anthropic and Google worth a combined $75 billion as evidence of AI's potential.

Which SpaceX Business Divisions Are Actually Profitable?

A critical question for investors is which parts of SpaceX's sprawling business empire are generating profits. According to SEC filings, SpaceX brought in $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, up sharply from 2024, yet still lost almost $5 billion that year. The breakdown reveals a stark reality: only one division is currently profitable. Starlink, the satellite internet service, generated $4.42 billion in income last year, thanks to its user base of over 10 million customers. The rocket launch unit, by contrast, lost $657 million in 2025.

The credit agencies acknowledged significant risks alongside their positive ratings. Moody's warned that the rating was constrained by the heavy execution and financial demands of SpaceX's large-scale AI buildout, marked by high capital intensity, sustained negative free cash flow, and an uncertain range of returns. The agency also highlighted the company's dependence on the next-generation Starship V3 vehicle, cautioning that technical setbacks or delays could pressure long-term growth. Additionally, Moody's pointed to elevated governance risks tied to SpaceX's controlled structure and concentrated voting power, which limit independent board oversight and leave the firm heavily reliant on a single individual, Elon Musk.

How SpaceX Plans to Achieve Profitability Across Its Divisions

• Starship Development: Industry analysts emphasize that successful development of the Starship rocket is critical to the launch division's long-term success. Starship is slated to play a critical role in NASA's Artemis program aiming to return humans to the moon, now anticipated for sometime in 2028. CFRA analyst Keith Snyder warned that SpaceX's long-term strategy remains heavily dependent on Starship, which could become a "bottleneck" for various SpaceX initiatives.
• AI and Data Center Expansion: SpaceX has stated it believes there is a $28.5 trillion total addressable market across space, connectivity, and artificial intelligence tools, with AI representing the biggest slice of that potential. The company has struck deals for data center usage that could bring as much as $26 billion in new annual revenues and has hinted at plans to build a data center network in space. In its first major post-IPO action, SpaceX announced a $60 billion deal to acquire AI coding startup Cursor, a move intended to boost xAI's ability to compete with popular coding products offered by Anthropic and OpenAI.
• Starlink Network Expansion: SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019 and has since grown the constellation to over 10,000 satellites with plans in place to grow the network significantly. The company has submitted an application to put as many as 1 million satellites into low Earth orbit. Beyond Earth-bound customers, Starlink provides in-flight internet services to dozens of airlines and functions as a communication network for government and military clients.

Musk has expressed ambitious revenue targets for the company. In a social media posting, he stated that he believes it is possible for SpaceX to reach $1 trillion in annual revenues by 2030, and added that he would be surprised if revenue is not greater than $1 trillion in 2031.

The stock's sharp decline from its peak highlights the tension between SpaceX's proven strengths in commercial launch and satellite internet and the uncertainty surrounding its newer ventures. While the investment-grade credit ratings validate the company's core businesses and financial stability, investors appear to be taking a more cautious stance on the company's ability to execute its ambitious AI and space expansion plans at the valuations being priced into the stock. The company now ranks as the sixth most valuable listed firm by market capitalization, having surrendered some of the ground it gained earlier in the week when it briefly overtook Amazon to claim fifth place.