Nubank vs SpaceX: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Nubank reported $15.8B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.9B of net income. SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Nubank
Nubank turned its first annual profit in 2023 ($1.03 billion on $8.03 billion revenue) and has scaled fast since. Under IFRS it reported FY2024 revenue of $11.52 billion and net income of $1.97 billion, then FY2025 revenue of $15.77 billion and net income of $2.87 billion. Using its newer managerial P&L, it reported Q4 2025 revenue of $4.9 billion and net income of $895 million with a 33% ROE. In Q2 2026, gross revenue rose 39% to $5.88 billion and net income reached $1.061 billion, up 49% FX-neutral, with a record 33% return on equity.
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
Nubank
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $15.8B | $2.9B | 18.2% | +37.0% | Source |
| FY2024 | $11.5B | $2B | 17.1% | +43.4% | Source |
| FY2023 | $8B | $1B | 12.8% | +67.5% | Source |
| FY2022 | $4.8B | -$364.6M | -7.6% | +182.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $1.7B | -$165M | -9.7% | +130.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $737.1M | -$171.5M | -23.3% | +20.4% | Source |
| FY2019 | $612.1M | -$92.5M | -15.1% | — | 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
Nubank
- Interest And Financial IncomeMajor
Interest and gains from credit cards, loans, securities, and other financial instruments.
- Fee And Commission IncomeMaterial
Interchange, payment, account, insurance, investment, and marketplace-related fees.
- Deposit SpreadMaterial
Funding and yield economics from Nubank's large deposit base.
- Cross-Sell ProductsGrowth
Insurance, investments, secured lending, payroll lending, merchant products, and new geographies.
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
Nubank
How it makes money
Nubank earns revenue mainly from interest on credit card balances, personal loans, payroll and secured loans, and from yield on the securities it buys with customer deposits. Fee and commission income adds interchange on card spending, late fees, and commissions from insurance, investments and marketplace sales.
Growth strategy
Nubank is growing by deepening products for existing customers (secured and payroll loans, investments, insurance, small-business banking), scaling Mexico after its 2026 bank launch and Colombia, and entering the US through a sponsor bank while its national bank charter is finalized.
Competitive advantage
Nubank's edge is cost and scale. It runs without branches, reported a cost to serve below $1 per active customer per month and a record efficiency ratio of 19.9% in Q4 2025, and gains most new customers through referrals. Transaction and deposit data from more than 130 million customers feed its underwriting models, and that data advantage grows as more Brazilians use Nubank as their primary account.
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 Nubank vs SpaceX
Which company has higher revenue — Nu Holdings Ltd. or SpaceX?
Nu Holdings Ltd. reported $15.8B (FY2025), while SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, SpaceX is the larger business, with Nu Holdings Ltd. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Nu Holdings Ltd. vs SpaceX?
Nu Holdings Ltd.'s market capitalisation stands at $66.3B, while SpaceX's is $1.92T. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Nu Holdings Ltd..
Which is more financially efficient — Nu Holdings Ltd. or SpaceX?
Nu Holdings Ltd. generates $1.57M / employee in revenue per employee, while SpaceX generates $826k / employee. Nu Holdings Ltd. 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 Nu Holdings Ltd. and SpaceX make money?
Nu Holdings Ltd. and SpaceX generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Nu Holdings Ltd.: Nubank earns revenue mainly from interest on credit card balances, personal loans, payroll and secured loans, and from yield on the securities it buys with customer deposits. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Nu Holdings Ltd. or SpaceX?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Nu Holdings Ltd. trades at 4.2x 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 Nu Holdings Ltd.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Nu Holdings Ltd. bigger than SpaceX?
By last reported revenue, SpaceX ($18.7B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Nu Holdings Ltd. ($15.8B (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 Nubank vs SpaceX overview