SpaceX disclosed $13 billion in cumulative losses since 2023, a staggering number that lands right as it prepares to go public.

The most eye-catching figure: nearly $4.3 billion in losses during just the first three months of 2026. That’s roughly $47 million vanishing every single day of the quarter.

The xAI problem

These losses trace back to accounting adjustments tied to SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture. Musk folded his AI company into his rocket company, and the resulting accounting treatment created a crater in SpaceX’s balance sheet.

SpaceX generated over $18.5 billion in revenue during 2025, but the company still posted a loss of nearly $5 billion for that same year. When one company acquires another, especially at a high valuation, the acquiring company often has to recognize significant intangible assets and goodwill on its books. The subsequent amortization and potential impairment of those assets can produce enormous paper losses, even if the underlying businesses are performing fine.

Analysts tracking the situation have raised a pointed concern: some xAI-related losses may not be fully disclosed in investor materials for the upcoming IPO.

The business underneath the losses

Strip away the xAI accounting noise, and SpaceX’s core operations tell a different story. Launch operations continue to expand. The Starlink customer base keeps growing. Revenue north of $18.5 billion in a single year suggests a business with serious commercial traction.

What this means for investors

The broader concern is what analysts call “Musk conglomerate risk.” Tesla shareholders have already experienced the volatility that comes with Musk’s attention being split across SpaceX, xAI, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, and The Boring Company. SpaceX IPO investors would be buying into not just a rocket company, but exposure to the financial decisions Musk makes across his entire portfolio.

The fact that xAI-related losses may not be fully transparent in IPO materials adds another layer of uncertainty. Public market investors tend to punish opacity, especially in the first few quarters after a company lists.