SpaceX vs Tata Motors: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B. Tata Motors reported ~$9.7B of revenue in FY2026 and ~$351.5M of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
SpaceX
- Latest revenue
- $18.7B (FY2025)
- Net income
- -$4.9B
- Net margin
- -26.4%
- Revenue growth
- +34.1% a year, FY2023–FY2025
Tata Motors
- Latest revenue
- ~$9.7B (FY2026)
- Net income
- ~$351.5M
- Net margin
- 3.6%
- Revenue growth
- +3.2% a year, FY2024–FY2026
Financial summary
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.
Tata Motors
The post-demerger Tata Motors Limited reported FY2026 (year to March 31, 2026) revenue from operations of ~$9.73B (INR83,855 Cr), up 44% from ~$6.75B (INR58,217 Cr), as wholesales rose 14% to about 428,000 units. The jump partly reflects the changed perimeter after the demerger, so it is not a clean like-for-like growth rate. Profit for the year fell 5.2% to ~$351M (INR3,030 Cr), weighed by one-time demerger costs (about $111M (INR960 Cr) in Q3) and new labour-code charges. Momentum carried into Q1 FY2027: revenue rose about 20% to ~$2.39B (INR20,576 Cr) and attributable profit rose 83% to ~$297M (INR2,560 Cr), helped by a one-time gain linked to Tata Capital, while commodity costs squeezed margins.
Revenue and profit by year
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 |
Tata Motors
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$9.7B | ~$351.5M | 3.6% | +44.0% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$6.8B | ~$370.6M | 5.5% | -26.1% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$9.1B | — | 0.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
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.
Tata Motors
- Trucks and small commercial vehicles
Primary revenue source
Revenue from trucks, pickups, small commercial vehicles and heavy vehicles.
- Buses and vans
Major segment
Bus and van sales to public transport, schools, fleets and private operators.
- Spares and services
Recurring support stream
Parts, maintenance, service contracts, uptime products and dealer service revenue.
- Connected and non-vehicular businesses
Strategic growth stream
Fleet Edge, Tata OK, aggregates and other mobility services.
Business model and strategy
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.
Tata Motors
How it makes money
Tata Motors -- following an October 2025 demerger that split the historic company in two -- now refers specifically to the commercial-vehicle business: trucks, buses, and other heavy vehicles sold mostly to the Indian domestic market, plus a proposed international expansion through the pending Iveco Group acquisition.
Growth strategy
Tata Motors is growing through next-generation trucks, buses, electric and alternative-fuel commercial vehicles, Fleet Edge, service parts, exports, operational discipline and the planned Iveco expansion.
Competitive advantage
Tata Motors' advantage is its scale in Indian commercial vehicles, deep dealer and service reach, Tata brand trust, engineering base and ability to bundle vehicles, spares, fleet tools and service.
Questions about SpaceX vs Tata Motors
Which company has higher revenue — SpaceX or Tata Motors Limited?
SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025), while Tata Motors Limited reported ~$9.7B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, SpaceX is the larger business, with Tata Motors Limited 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 SpaceX vs Tata Motors Limited?
SpaceX's market capitalisation stands at $1.92T, while Tata Motors Limited's is $17.5B. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Tata Motors Limited.
Which is more financially efficient — SpaceX or Tata Motors Limited?
SpaceX generates $826k / employee in revenue per employee, while Tata Motors Limited generates $240k / 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 SpaceX and Tata Motors Limited make money?
SpaceX and Tata Motors Limited generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments. Tata Motors Limited: Tata Motors -- following an October 2025 demerger that split the historic company in two -- now refers specifically to the commercial-vehicle business: trucks, buses, and other heavy vehicles sold mostly to the Indian domestic market, plus a proposed international expansion through the pending Iveco Group acquisition.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — SpaceX or Tata Motors Limited?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, SpaceX trades at 102.8x P/S and Tata Motors Limited at 1.8x P/S. SpaceX commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Tata Motors Limited. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is SpaceX bigger than Tata Motors Limited?
By last reported revenue, SpaceX ($18.7B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Tata Motors Limited (~$9.7B (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 SpaceX vs Tata Motors overview