Shares of Space Exploration Technologies fell sharply Tuesday, closing at $156.59, down 4.2%, as investors digested reports that the company plans to raise roughly $40 billion to purchase Nvidia AI chips. The decline erased gains from the past week and marks the stock's lowest close since early October, even as major U.S. indexes finished nearly flat — suggesting this selloff is company-specific, not macro-driven. SpaceX Slides 4% as a $40 Billion Chip-Buying Spree Forces Investors to Ask: Can Starlink's Profits Carry the Whole Company?

Shares fell to $156.59 on Tuesday — their lowest in over a week — as the market continued to digest reports that SpaceX wants to borrow $40 billion to buy Nvidia AI processors. The financing plan, first reported on October 6–7, initially knocked the stock down 2%, but selling deepened as investors weighed what the debt would mean for a company that already burns cash at an extraordinary rate. With major indexes nearly flat, this is a SpaceX-specific problem.

  • The Debt Is Enormous, Even by Big Tech Standards. The proposed deal would include roughly $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt.

If completed, it would rank among the biggest-ever debt financings for the AI buildout.

SpaceX already issued $25 billion in high-grade notes after its $86 billion IPO in June , meaning total borrowings could approach $65 billion in under a year as a public company. That level of leverage on a company still posting net losses demands that AI revenue materialize fast.

  • Only One Business Actually Makes Money. SpaceX booked $7.8 billion of Q2 revenue, but Starlink's connectivity segment earned a $1.66 billion operating profit while the AI and space units lost a combined $1.8 billion.

The AI unit alone absorbed $15.8 billion of the quarter's $18.4 billion in capital spending. Starlink is profitable and growing, but it simply cannot self-fund a new $40 billion borrowing binge on top of existing commitments.

  • AI Revenue Is Growing Fast — But From a Small Base. The AI segment generated about $2.6 billion in Q2 revenue, up 247% year over year.

Yet first-half 2026 AI sales totaled just $3.4 billion , a fraction of the spending needed to justify the infrastructure. Goldman Sachs projected SpaceX's AI sales could reach $322 billion by 2030 , but that target requires years of flawless execution and sustained customer demand.

  • Insiders Could Add Pressure Soon. Lockup expirations will release up to 1.3 billion SpaceX shares after Q3 earnings , creating a potential wave of insider selling right as investors are questioning the capital strategy. If the stock keeps sliding, that overhang could accelerate the decline.

The core tension is simple: SpaceX is betting that borrowing tens of billions today for AI chips will generate enormous revenue tomorrow. Until earnings prove the thesis, every new debt headline tests shareholders' patience — and Tuesday's 4% drop shows that patience is thinning.