theSIGNAL BUSINESS
21 October 2026
"Markets can stay surprised longer than managers can stay patient."
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Business

SpaceX Beats Forecasts, Then Floats Tesla Merger

Blowout quarterly results gave Elon Musk a platform to back a combination of his two largest companies, with caveats.

When a company's revenue grows by 161% in a year, the numbers usually dominate the conversation. On Tuesday, however, the most closely watched sentence on SpaceX's earnings call was not about money at all. Speaking from his Starlink factory in Texas, Elon Musk said he supports merging SpaceX with Tesla, while insisting that nothing has been agreed. The financial results were strong enough to justify the attention.

SpaceX reported $14.58bn in revenue, well above the $12.72bn that analysts had expected, along with net income of $4.4bn and earnings per share of 35 cents.

The surprise came from the company's artificial intelligence arm, branded Super Intelligence, which earned $7.6bn and now generates more than the Connectivity business that sells Starlink internet access. Shares, which had been down about 8% for the year, rose 2% in after-hours trading. The merger discussion was more guarded.

Both companies have set up special committees of independent directors to study the idea, and Musk said he cannot take part because he is a conflicted party, sitting on both sides of the table. A deal would also need approval from 50% of Tesla's shareholders. "I think some people out there assume that a SpaceX and Tesla merger is a certainty and I think that would be overstating it," he said. The timing is awkward.

Photo: SpaceX / Unsplash
Rocket and satellite hardware assembled at a Texas factory, where SpaceX presented its latest quarterly earnings.
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161%
SpaceX year-over-year revenue growth in the latest quarter
Discuss
  • Why might special committees of independent directors matter when one executive leads both companies in a possible merger?
  • SpaceX's AI segment now earns more than its connectivity business; what does this suggest about how investors value the company?
Business

Court Files Expose Executives' Internal Harm Warnings

"I have been fighting about fixing this for months," one executive wrote, "with people who didn't think the harms are severe enough." The line surfaced in court records that had never been reported. The documents suggest a familiar corporate pattern: risk is flagged internally, then weighed against cost and growth. Litigation, not disclosure rules, now seems to decide when such debates become public.…
  • Should companies be required to disclose internal harm warnings before lawsuits force them into public view?
Business

A 1930 Law Faces Its Cheesiest Test

A New Jersey cheese importer now pays 50% duties on Canadian goods, part of a levy covering roughly $20bn of trade. Gellert Global Group, backed by the Liberty Justice Center, has asked the Court of International Trade to declare the tariffs unlawful and order refunds with interest. At issue is Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act, which plaintiffs say cannot justify sweeping duties, especially when a required 30-day waiting period was apparently shortened to one week.…
  • Should courts limit presidential tariff powers drawn from century-old laws written for very different trade conditions?
—
I think some people out there assume that a SpaceX and Tesla merger is a certainty and I think that would be overstating it.
Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla
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theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
IVOCABULARY
guardedconflicted party
approvaloverstatingunlawful
refundssealed
IIGRAMMAR FOCUS
Causative have/get — have something done
Use have/get + object + past participle to say that someone arranges for another person to do something for them (e.g. 'She had the contract reviewed'). 'Get' is more informal, and the pattern can also describe something unpleasant that happens to someone (e.g.…
had · have · having · get · got · reviewed · studied
  1. Both SpaceX and Tesla have set up committees because they want to the merger idea studied by independent directors.
  2. Musk cannot take part in the vote, so the boards the proposal examined without his involvement.
  3. If a deal is ever agreed, the companies will need to it approved by 50% of Tesla's shareholders.
  4. Gellert Global Group is hoping to the Canadian tariffs declared unlawful by the Court of International Trade.
  5. The cheese importer wants to have its duties with interest if the court rules in its favour.
  6. The newly reported court documents were sealed for years before the executives' warnings finally came to light.
IIIPHRASAL VERBS
Match the phrasal verb to its definition. All six appear in today’s articles.
  1. to come into view or become publicly known ("The line ___ in court records")
  2. to be involved in an activity or decision ("he cannot ___ because he is a conflicted party")
  3. to establish or create something, such as a committee ("Both companies have ___ special committees")
  4. to ask a court or authority to officially rule on or demand something ("has ___ the Court of International Trade to declare the tariffs unlawful")
  5. to be directed at, or to cover, a particular sum or area ("a levy ___ roughly $20bn of trade")
IVCRITICAL THINKING
Today's court-files story suggests that litigation, rather than regulation, often decides when internal corporate doubts become public. Considering all three articles, who bears the greatest responsibility for scrutinising powerful organisations: regulators, courts, journalists or shareholders? Justify your choice and explain what each of the others can realistically contribute.
VCREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the top story in each of the following styles. One line each, no explanation:
  • TABLOID NEWSPAPER
  • LUXURY MAGAZINE
  • ACTIVIST BLOG
VIWRITING
Write a short email (120–150 words) from a small investor in Tesla to a friend, explaining why a possible SpaceX merger leaves you feeling both excited and uneasy. Use at least two of the phrasal verbs from the exercise above.
VIIDEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong.
  • The results were better than expected.→→
  • The merger talks are cautious.→→
  • The timing is a little inconvenient.→→
  • Some staff questioned whether the risks were serious.→→
  • The documents were not widely known.→→
  • The importer is unhappy about the duties.→→
VIIISPEAKING
  1. Is it fair that lawsuits, not regulators, reveal what companies knew?
  2. What would make you trust a CEO who says a deal is uncertain?
  3. Which matters more to you: a company's growth or its governance?
  4. Can small importers realistically challenge governments in court? What stops them?