SpaceX vs Uber: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B. Uber reported $52B of revenue in FY2025 and $10.1B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
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.
Uber
Uber moved from years of heavy losses to steady profitability. Revenue grew from $37.3 billion in FY2023 to $44.0 billion in FY2024 and $52.0 billion in FY2025, while net income attributable to Uber was $10.053 billion in FY2025 (FY2024's $9.856 billion included a large tax valuation allowance release). Growth continued into 2026: Q2 2026 gross bookings rose 24% year over year to $58.0 billion and revenue rose about 12% to roughly $14.2 billion, and trailing twelve-month free cash flow passed $10 billion. The pending Delivery Hero deal, valued at $14.8 billion in equity, would be Uber's largest acquisition.
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 |
Uber
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $52B | $10.1B | 19.3% | +18.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $44B | $9.9B | 22.4% | +18.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $37.3B | $1.9B | 5.1% | +17.0% | Source |
| FY2022 | $31.9B | -$9.1B | -28.7% | +82.6% | Source |
| FY2021 | $17.5B | -$496M | -2.8% | +56.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | $11.1B | -$6.8B | -60.8% | -14.3% | Source |
| FY2019 | $13B | -$8.5B | -65.4% | +24.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $10.4B | $997M | 9.6% | +31.5% | Source |
| FY2017 | $7.9B | -$4B | -50.8% | — | 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.
Uber
- Mobility
~52% (Q2 2026)
Fees from ride-hailing trips, including UberX, Uber Black, taxis and autonomous rides on partner vehicles. About $7.36B of Q2 2026 revenue.
- Delivery
~37% (Q2 2026)
Fees from Uber Eats restaurant, grocery and retail orders, plus delivery advertising. About $5.25B of Q2 2026 revenue.
- Freight
~11% (Q2 2026)
Uber Freight brokerage and managed transportation services for shippers.
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.
Uber
How it makes money
Uber does not own most of the cars, restaurants or trucks on its platform. It matches riders with independent drivers (Mobility), consumers with restaurants, grocers and couriers (Delivery), and shippers with carriers (Freight), and keeps a share of each transaction as revenue.
Growth strategy
Uber's growth strategy centers on cross-platform engagement between Mobility and Delivery, Uber One membership, advertising, autonomous-vehicle partnerships, and international delivery scale. The €41.50-per-share Delivery Hero tender, launched September 18, 2026 after Delivery Hero's boards recommended it on September 2, would extend delivery density; Uber expects closing in the second half of 2027.
Competitive advantage
Uber's advantage comes from local marketplace liquidity, brand recognition, routing data, payments, driver and courier networks, merchant relationships, subscriptions, and cross-sell between Mobility and Delivery.
Questions about SpaceX vs Uber
Which company has higher revenue — SpaceX or Uber Technologies, Inc.?
SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025), while Uber Technologies, Inc. reported $52.0B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, Uber Technologies, Inc. is the larger business, with SpaceX reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of SpaceX vs Uber Technologies, Inc.?
SpaceX's market capitalisation stands at $1.92T, while Uber Technologies, Inc.'s is $142.0B. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Uber Technologies, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — SpaceX or Uber Technologies, Inc.?
SpaceX generates $826k / employee in revenue per employee, while Uber Technologies, Inc. generates $1.53M / employee. Uber Technologies, 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 SpaceX and Uber Technologies, Inc. make money?
SpaceX and Uber Technologies, Inc. generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments. Uber Technologies, Inc.: Uber does not own most of the cars, restaurants or trucks on its platform.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — SpaceX or Uber Technologies, Inc.?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, SpaceX trades at 102.8x P/S and Uber Technologies, Inc. at 2.7x P/S. SpaceX commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Uber Technologies, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is SpaceX bigger than Uber Technologies, Inc.?
By last reported revenue, Uber Technologies, Inc. ($52.0B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to SpaceX ($18.7B (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 SpaceX vs Uber overview