• BofA Securities (BAC) analyst Ronald Epstein reiterated a Buy rating and raised his price target on SpaceX (SPCX) to $275 from $235, citing the company’s stronger-than-expected Q3 results and an improved 2027 outlook.
  • SpaceX reported Q3 revenue of $14.58 billion, up 161% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $0.45, well ahead of consensus.
  • The next major catalyst is Flight 15, expected in November, which will attempt to recover both stages of Starship for the first time, potentially paving the way for weekly launches in the first half of 2027.

BofA Boosts SpaceX Price Target to $275

BofA Securities analyst Ronald Epstein has raised his price target on SpaceX to $275 from $235, a roughly 17% increase, while maintaining a Buy rating, according to an October 22 analyst-rating report. The move follows the company’s stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and a significantly improved outlook for 2027, which management presented on its earnings call.

The upgraded target reflects growing confidence in SpaceX’s earnings power and the commercialization of its Starship rocket, but the company’s financial story now extends well beyond launch services. With the combination with xAI and the acquisition of Cursor, SpaceX is increasingly a diversified technology and infrastructure player, competing with telecom operators and cloud providers alike.

Q3 Results Blow Past Estimates

SpaceX reported Q3 revenue of $14.58 billion, up 161% year over year and well above the $12.72 billion consensus estimate, according to figures cited by CNBC (VSNT). Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.45, compared with expectations of $0.13. The company swung to net income of $4.4 billion from a $1.05 billion loss a year earlier, while operating income reached $2.8 billion.

The segment breakdown underscores a shifting business mix. AI revenue, boosted by the xAI combination, reached $7.56 billion, making it the largest top-line contributor. Connectivity revenue rose 69% to $5.25 billion and generated $2.37 billion in operating income. Launch revenue increased modestly to $1.77 billion but posted a $7 million operating loss.

SpaceX also flexed its operational muscle, completing 35 launches in the quarter, including two Starship flights and missions for commercial, NASA, and national-security customers. Starlink ended the period with 13.6 million consumer subscribers.

Starship Flight 15: The Next Catalyst

The next major milestone is Flight 15, expected next month, when SpaceX plans to attempt recovery of both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage. BofA sees this as a pivotal step toward reusability, which is central to the company’s long-term economic model. Management has targeted weekly Starship flights during the first half of 2027, followed by twice-weekly or potentially more frequent flights later that year.

Flight 14, which reached orbit on September 28 and deployed 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites, was a significant step forward, though it fell short of its planned duration. SpaceX said the mission deployed approximately 26 terabits per second of bandwidth—equivalent to about 10 Falcon 9 Starlink launches—and expects future payloads to increase that advantage.

“What we’re really focused on is regulatory stability and execution,” Epstein wrote, according to people familiar with the report, adding that Flight 15’s licensing and recovery attempt will be closely watched. SpaceX has said it expects the FAA license to permit return-to-launch-site and tower catches for both stages, but that approval had not been confirmed at the time of the report.

AI Investment and Financing Needs Intensify

The company’s AI ambitions come with a hefty price tag. Management guided to Q4 capital expenditure of $35–40 billion, following $19.6 billion in Q3, with more than $16.4 billion directed to AI in the third quarter alone. SpaceX cited debt markets and operating cash flow as funding sources, but the aggressive spending plan exposes the company to interest-rate risk and the need for sustained demand for rented computing capacity.

Recent volatility in AI infrastructure stocks, including sharp October declines in CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) amid financing concerns, highlights the sensitivity. SpaceX’s profitable connectivity business provides some diversification, but it does not eliminate those risks.

For the current quarter, management forecast revenue of $33–37 billion for Q1 2027, far above the roughly $22.2 billion analyst expectation reported by CNBC. That unusually wide gap helps explain the post-earnings optimism, but it also raises the stakes for execution. Shares rose about 8% in extended trading after the results.

Other Analysts Follow Suit

BofA is not alone in turning more bullish. Cantor Fitzgerald raised its target to $345, Barclays (BCS) to $300, Citi (C) to $240, and UBS (UBS) to $230. The revisions point to broad optimism but also meaningful disagreement over valuation, particularly given the company’s enormous capital needs and the long-dated assumptions underpinning many models. Epstein’s valuation reportedly uses a discounted-cash-flow framework extending to 2045.

Meanwhile, SpaceX continues to expand its footprint. The company announced a proposed Louisiana spaceport, with COO Gwynne Shotwell citing a first-launch objective of 2029, while CEO Elon Musk suggested late 2028 might be possible. SpaceX also reported FCC approval for a 15,000-satellite mobile constellation and announced additional low-band spectrum purchases, supporting its push into mobile service.

A possible merger with Tesla (TSLA) is also under discussion by independent board committees at both companies, though no completed transaction has been announced. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on the analyst report.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the percentage increase in BofA’s price target. It is approximately 17%, not 20%.