SpaceX’s Starship Reaches Orbit For First Time – Retail Calls It ‘History In The Making’

Starship is carrying 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites in its 14th test flight

• Evercore ISI said SpaceX could reach 2.3 GW to 2.7 GW of AI compute capacity by year-end, well above the 2.1 GW consensus estimates.
• Bernstein expects Starlink’s broadband subscribers to reach about 168 million by 2031.
• Deutsche Bank maintained a ‘Buy’ rating and $235 price target on SpaceX.

SpaceX (SPCX) reached a major milestone Monday as Starship entered Earth’s orbit for the first time during its 14th test flight, moving its largest and most powerful launch vehicle closer to regular commercial operations.

Starship is SpaceX’s next-generation rocket system, consisting of the Super Heavy booster. Unlike its smaller Falcon 9 rockets, which are in commercial use today, SpaceX wants Starship to be fully and rapidly reusable, allowing it to carry much larger payloads at substantially lower costs. SpaceX says Starship V3 is designed to carry around 100 metric tons to orbit.

SPCX shares were down 0.4% at the time of writing.

Why Flight 14 Matters

Monday’s mission is Starship’s first orbital flight, carrying 26 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites. The milestone is important because SpaceX is increasingly betting its future launch business on Starship. The company is winding down Falcon 9 and has reportedly stopped offering new rideshare opportunities.

The company may not offer Falcon 9 launches beyond 2028, although existing contracts will continue.

Bernstein Bets On Starlink Growth

Meanwhile, Bernstein highlighted Starlink’s prospects. Bernstein expects Starlink’s broadband subscribers to reach about 168 million by 2031, generating around $64 billion in annual consumer and small-business broadband revenue, according to Investing.com.

The firm reiterated an ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock with a $248 price target, while also raising its earnings estimate for fiscal 2027. The target represents a 67% upside from current levels.

Evercore Sees More AI Upside

Evercore ISI said Wall Street may be underestimating SpaceX’s AI computing capacity. Musk recently said SpaceX has 780,000 GPUs operating across its Colossus 1 and 2 data centers and expects to add at least two more 220,000-GPU tranches by year-end, with a third possible.

Evercore estimates could lift computing capacity to 2.3-2.7 GW, above consensus of roughly 2.1 GW, potentially pushing 2027 revenue and earnings significantly above current expectations.

Deutsche Bank Likes Grok Bot

Deutsche Bank highlighted growing interest in Grok Bot, which reportedly reached 418,000 weekly users as of Sept. 14, up 24% week over week. The firm said the AI agent could handle tasks ranging from email management to coding and may help SpaceX build a broader enterprise-focused AI ecosystem.

Deutsche maintained its ‘Buy’ rating and $235 price target on SpaceX.

Retail Bulls Eye $162

Retail sentiment surrounding SPCX on Stocktwits turned ‘neutral’ from ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours. SPCX was also among the top trending stocks at the time of writing.  

One user called Starship’s milestone a “history in the making.”

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Another user expects the stock to climb to $162 by the end of the week.

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The stock has gained around 9.6% over its IPO price of $135.

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