Stock Market Today, Oct. 20: SpaceX Stock Gains After Market Close on Q3 Earnings Report
Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX), better known as SpaceX, a reusable rocket launch and satellite broadband services provider, closed at $147.79, down 0.11%, on Oct. 20. However, shares rebounded to $155.40, up 5.15%, in early after-hours trading as investors weighed an after-close Q3 report.
Trading volume reached 89.4 million shares, coming in nearly 5.5% below its three-month average of 94.5 million shares. SpaceX IPO’d in 2026 and has fallen 8% since going public.
How the markets moved today
S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,713, up 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) finished at 26,425, down 0.02%. Among aerospace and defense space rivals, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) closed at $50.90, down 0.90%, and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) closed at $41.13, down 1.77%, as satellite broadband and launch names tracked company-specific earnings and spectrum headlines.
What this means for investors
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, investors were focused on SpaceX’s after-close Q3 report, with options trading earlier in the day implying an 8% swing with attention centered on $170 calls and $140 puts. The company announced earnings after the closing bell, delivering 161% year-over-year revenue growth to $14.6 billion in the third quarter.
SpaceX also notched its first revenue-generating Starship mission in Q3. Last week, it executed a successful classified national-security launch for the U.S. Space Force, reinforcing the company’s launch cadence and government demand. This supports the valuation case for its launch business.
In its Super Intelligence division, where SpaceX seeks to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom, the company produced sales of $7.6 billion, a substantial increase from the prior year’s $813 million.
Moreover, the AI segment produced a profit in Q3 with operating income of $431 million. Not only is this an enormous improvement from 2025’s loss from operations of $1.7 billion, it’s also a dramatic turnaround from Q2’s loss of $1.3 billion. The outstanding result demonstrates SpaceX’s ability to grow AI operations profitably, which is critical since the company believes this area possesses its biggest market potential, calling it a $27 trillion opportunity.
Should you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies right now?
Before you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Space Exploration Technologies wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $376,696!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,333,920!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 925% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
*Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2026.
Robert Izquierdo has positions in Rocket Lab and Space Exploration Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Stock Market Today, Oct. 20: SpaceX Stock Gains After Market Close on Q3 Earnings Report was originally published by The Motley Fool