SpaceX Lands in 179 U.S.-Listed ETFs as Value Funds Broaden Beyond Cheap Stocks

Q: As Starlink’s user revenue drops, can it alone fuel the massive cash furnace of the company's high-risk AI venture?

No. Starlink is the company’s profit engine, but it is not large enough on its own to fund xAI’s current burn. The key mismatch is scale. Starlink’s connectivity unit was SpaceX’s only clearly profitable business in 2025, producing about $4.4 billion in operating profit and supporting group EBITDA. But xAI posted a roughly $6.35 billion operating loss in 2025, and AI-related capital spending reached about $7.7 billion in just the first quarter of 2026. SpaceX overall still reported deep losses and negative free cash flow, showing Starlink’s profits are being overwhelmed by AI and other investment needs. Starlink’s revenue base is still growing because subscribers are rising fast, but the quality of that growth is mixed. Its average revenue per user fell from about $99 in 2023 to roughly $66 by early 2026 as it expanded into lower-priced markets. That means more users are not translating into proportionate profit growth. In Q1 2026, Starlink operating income rose only modestly despite a sharp increase in subscribers. That leaves Starlink as a subsidizer, not a self-sufficient funding source for xAI. It can help absorb part of the AI build-out, but not fully finance a business that may require tens of billions more in compute, infrastructure and R&D. That is why SpaceX’s valuation and capital strategy increasingly depend on external funding, public-market support and the hope that AI eventually becomes a major revenue driver rather than a cash drain.

3 articles · Updated · Benzinga · Jul 16

Morningstar found SpaceX is now held by 179 U.S.-listed ETFs, including several large value funds that traditionally favored lower-valuation companies.
Value indexes and active managers increasingly mix valuation with profitability, cash generation and quality screens, letting a premium-priced growth company qualify for portfolios once likely to exclude it.
Strive 1000 Value ETF is among the notable value holders, showing SpaceX’s ETF ownership now spans broad-market, growth, quality, momentum, multi-factor and value strategies.
That wider inclusion means investors may already own SpaceX through diversified ETFs, and benchmark membership can turn passive fund inflows into steady incremental demand for the shares.
SpaceX’s spread into value products highlights how the line between growth and value investing has blurred as managers emphasize durable advantages and long-term fundamentals over simple price multiples.