eBay vs SpaceX: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
eBay reported $11.1B of revenue in FY2025 and $2B of net income. SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
eBay
eBay is an asset-light marketplace. Unlike Amazon it owns no large warehouses or delivery fleet; it connects buyers and sellers and charges the seller a Final Value Fee, a percentage of each sale. That gives it high profit margins and strong free cash flow, which fund share buybacks and a dividend. In FY2025 it reported $11.100B in revenue and $2.031B in net income, with 135M active buyers.
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
eBay
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $11.1B | $2B | 18.3% | +7.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | $10.3B | — | 0.0% | +1.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | $10.1B | $2.8B | 27.4% | +3.2% | Source |
| FY2022 | $9.8B | -$1.3B | -13.0% | -6.0% | Source |
| FY2021 | $10.4B | $13.6B | 130.6% | — | 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
eBay
- Marketplace Transaction Fees
Primary revenue stream
Final value fees and related transaction revenue tied to seller activity and gross merchandise volume.
- Advertising and Promoted Listings
High-margin growth stream
Seller-funded ad products that increase listing visibility and monetize buyer intent.
- Payments, Shipping, Stores, and Upgrades
Marketplace services
Managed payments, shipping services, store subscriptions, listing upgrades, and seller tools.
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
eBay
How it makes money
eBay operates a large C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) online marketplace model. They do not own any inventory. The core model relies entirely on 'Take Rates'. If you sell a vintage watch for $1,000 on eBay, eBay takes roughly a 10-15% commission, plus processing fees. Over the last decade, they have aggressively pivoted away from their original 'Auction' format;
Growth strategy
eBay's growth strategy centres on what it calls focus categories and on trust. It was losing sneaker and watch sales to specialist startups because buyers feared counterfeits. It responded with Authenticity Guarantee: experts at eBay facilities inspect expensive watches, sneakers and trading cards before they are shipped to the buyer.
Competitive advantage
eBay's advantage is its inventory of unique and refurbished items and the network of sellers behind it. Shoppers go to Amazon for standard new goods and to eBay for things like a specific 1968 Mustang part, a graded Pokemon card or a refurbished iPhone.
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 eBay vs SpaceX
Which company has higher revenue — eBay Inc. or SpaceX?
eBay Inc. reported $11.1B (FY2025), while SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, SpaceX is the larger business, with eBay Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of eBay Inc. vs SpaceX?
eBay Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $48.0B, while SpaceX's is $1.92T. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to eBay Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — eBay Inc. or SpaceX?
eBay Inc. generates $902k / employee in revenue per employee, while SpaceX generates $826k / employee. eBay Inc. 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 eBay Inc. and SpaceX make money?
eBay Inc. and SpaceX generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. eBay Inc.: eBay operates a large C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) and B2C (Business-to-Consumer) online marketplace model. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — eBay Inc. or SpaceX?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, eBay Inc. trades at 4.3x 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 eBay Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is eBay Inc. bigger than SpaceX?
By last reported revenue, SpaceX ($18.7B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to eBay Inc. ($11.1B (FY2025)). 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 eBay vs SpaceX overview