Autodesk vs SpaceX: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Autodesk reported $7.2B of revenue in FY2026 and $1.1B of net income. SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Autodesk
Autodesk stopped selling new perpetual licenses for its core desktop products in 2016 and spent the following years converting customers to subscriptions. Reported revenue fell to $2.03 billion in fiscal 2017 with a $582 million net loss before the subscription base compounded. Fiscal 2026 shows the finished version of that model: $7.206 billion of revenue, up 18 percent, of which 94 percent was subscription and maintenance; gross profit of $6.56 billion, or 91 percent of revenue; a GAAP operating margin of 22 percent and a non-GAAP operating margin of 38 percent; net income of $1.124 billion; and free cash flow of $2.409 billion, up 54 percent, from $2.452 billion of cash from operations. Remaining performance obligations, the contracted revenue not yet recognized, were $8.30 billion at January 31, 2026, of which $5.48 billion is expected to convert within twelve months. Autodesk pays no dividend and returns cash through share repurchases.
SpaceX
SpaceX revenue grew from $10.387 billion in 2023 to $14.015 billion in 2024 and $18.674 billion in 2025, but heavy Starship, Starlink, and AI spending produced a $4.937 billion FY2025 net loss. In Q2 2026, its first quarter reported as a public company, revenue was $7.8 billion (up 92%), adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 billion, net loss was $541 million, and backlog was $47.5 billion. The IPO raised $85.7 billion and a $25 billion bond sale added more liquidity. In late September 2026 the stock traded near $145, for a market capitalization around $1.9 trillion.
Revenue and profit by year
Autodesk
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $7.2B | $1.1B | 15.6% | +17.5% | Source |
| FY2025 | $6.1B | $1.1B | 18.1% | +11.5% | Source |
| FY2024 | $5.5B | $906M | 16.5% | +9.8% | Source |
| FY2023 | $5B | $823M | 16.4% | +14.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $4.4B | $497M | 11.3% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2021 | $3.8B | $1.2B | 31.9% | +15.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $3.3B | $214.5M | 6.6% | +27.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $2.6B | -$80.8M | -3.1% | +25.0% | Source |
| FY2018 | $2.1B | -$566.9M | -27.6% | +1.3% | Source |
| FY2017 | $2B | -$582.1M | -28.7% | — | Source |
SpaceX
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $18.7B | -$4.9B | -26.4% | +33.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $14B | $18M | 0.1% | +34.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $10.4B | -$4.6B | -44.6% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Autodesk
- Subscription and maintenance revenue~94%
US$6.776 billion in fiscal 2026, made up of US$6.743 billion of subscription revenue and US$33 million of legacy maintenance plans. By product family this is AECO US$3.583 billion, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT US$1.787 billion, Manufacturing US$1.379 billion, Media and Entertainment US$332 million and other US$125 million, per the fiscal 2026 results.
- Other revenue (products and services)~6%
US$430 million in fiscal 2026, up 15 percent, from consulting, training and other products and services, recognized as they are delivered or performed.
SpaceX
- Launch services
Not formally reported
Commercial, civil, and national-security launches priced by rocket, payload, orbit, and service type.
- Starlink consumer broadband
Not formally reported
Monthly subscriptions and terminals for residential and mobile broadband.
- Enterprise and government connectivity
Not formally reported
Starlink enterprise, aviation, maritime, backup connectivity, Starshield, and government services.
- AI infrastructure
Not formally reported
Compute and cloud services from SpaceX's AI segment, formed through the xAI combination; $2.6B revenue in Q2 2026.
Business model and strategy
Autodesk
How it makes money
Autodesk sells subscriptions to design software used by professionals: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT for drafting, Revit and Civil 3D for buildings and infrastructure, Inventor and Fusion for manufacturing, Maya and 3ds Max for animation.
Growth strategy
With drafting seats a mature market, Autodesk's growth depends on construction and manufacturing workflow software rather than on selling more AutoCAD licenses. AECO revenue grew 22 percent in fiscal 2026 to $3.58 billion, the fastest of the four product families, led by construction products that handle cost, scheduling, bidding and field work rather than design.
Competitive advantage
Autodesk's advantage is that its file formats and its products are what the industry trains on. Architecture and engineering programs teach AutoCAD and Revit, project data is exchanged as DWG and RVT files, and a firm that switches has to retrain staff and accept conversion risk on decades of legacy drawings.
SpaceX
How it makes money
SpaceX earns money in three segments. Space sells launches on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, plus Dragon cargo and crew missions for NASA, the U.S. government, and commercial customers ($962 million in Q2 2026).
Growth strategy
SpaceX's growth plan has four parts: add Starlink subscribers and raise enterprise, aviation, and mobile revenue; launch higher-capacity Starlink V3 satellites on Starship; expand national-security work through Starshield and launch contracts (over $6 billion in U.S. government awards in Q2 2026); and scale AI compute capacity, which grew from 400 megawatts a year earlier to 1.4 gigawatts at the end of Q2 2026.
Competitive advantage
SpaceX's advantage is reusability combined with vertical integration. It builds its own engines, avionics, rockets, and satellites, and reflies Falcon 9 boosters many times, which lowers its marginal launch cost below rivals that still expend most hardware. Being its own largest launch customer lets it deploy Starlink at a cadence no other operator has matched, and Starlink revenue then funds Starship.
Questions about Autodesk vs SpaceX
Which company has higher revenue — Autodesk, Inc. or SpaceX?
Autodesk, Inc. reported $7.2B (FY2026), while SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, SpaceX is the larger business, with Autodesk, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base. Note: these are from different fiscal years and are not a direct like-for-like comparison.
What is the market cap of Autodesk, Inc. vs SpaceX?
Autodesk, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $43.7B, while SpaceX's is $1.92T. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Autodesk, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Autodesk, Inc. or SpaceX?
Autodesk, Inc. generates $504k / employee in revenue per employee, while SpaceX generates $826k / employee. SpaceX shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Autodesk, Inc. and SpaceX make money?
Autodesk, Inc. and SpaceX generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Autodesk, Inc.: Autodesk sells subscriptions to design software used by professionals: AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT for drafting, Revit and Civil 3D for buildings and infrastructure, Inventor and Fusion for manufacturing, Maya and 3ds Max for animation. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Autodesk, Inc. or SpaceX?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Autodesk, Inc. trades at 6.1x P/S and SpaceX at 102.8x P/S. SpaceX commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Autodesk, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Autodesk, Inc. bigger than SpaceX?
By last reported revenue, SpaceX ($18.7B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Autodesk, Inc. ($7.2B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Autodesk vs SpaceX overview