SpaceX eyes $40 billion Nvidia chip debt, Apollo to lead

SpaceX's cash position looks enormous, but the spending behind it is accelerating. Capital expenditures rose from $10.1 billion in the first quarter to $18.4 billion in the second, with $15.8 billion of that going into AI computing infrastructure. CFO Bret Johnsen told analysts on the August earnings call to expect capital spending in each of the next two quarters to be very similar to the second quarter — a pace that would eat up around $37 billion, or over a third of the cash pile. CEO Elon Musk added on the same call that SpaceX's computing capacity by the end of 2027 could be closer to 10 gigawatts than 5, compared to 1.4 gigawatts at the end of June.

The new borrowing also arrives in a year already carrying other bills. SpaceX expects to close its purchase of EchoStar's wireless spectrum in late 2027, a deal that includes up to $8.5 billion to pay off EchoStar debt. On the debt side, the company owed around $23.3 billion in debt and finance leases at the end of 2025, rising to $39.5 billion by June, with $25 billion of that in bonds sold in June. Adding $40 billion would take the total to roughly $80 billion, about double.

For now, the connectivity segment — which includes Starlink — is what makes the bill payable, earning $1.7 billion of operating income in the second quarter while the AI segment lost $1.3 billion. The key question is whether that AI spending turns into profits before the interest burden grows: at around 73 times sales, the stock already assumes it does.