$SPCX, $TSLA Firm as Musk's AI-Compute Spending Comes Into Focus

NEW YORK — Shares of Elon Musk's two public companies held firm on Monday as Wall Street digested a steady drumbeat of news pointing in one direction: an enormous, coordinated bet on AI compute spanning silicon, satellites, and data centers.

SpaceX — NASDAQ: SPCX — which now includes xAI following this year's merger, traded near its recent highs, while Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) consolidated the gains that carried it above $379 last week. The through-line for both was capital expenditure: specifically, how much Musk's empire intends to spend turning energy and launch capacity into raw computing power, and how quickly that spending can translate into revenue.

A Spending Story Investors Like

Two developments framed the session. SpaceX detailed a plan for up to one million heavy "Starmind" satellites that would run AI models in orbit, and Musk confirmed that the Tesla- and SpaceX-backed Terafab chip project is in talks with TSMC, a program whose first phase alone carries a roughly $16.8 billion price tag and targets more than one terawatt of AI compute a year.

For a market that has rewarded AI infrastructure plays all year, the message is attractive: Musk's companies are building the compute supply chain end to end rather than renting it. That vertical integration is a core part of the bull case $SPCX investors have embraced since the stock's run toward a $2 trillion valuation, a thesis laid out in our earlier look at SpaceX's AI bet.

Where the Tape Stands

At midday in New York, $TSLA was changing hands around $383, little moved on the session but up on the week, within a 52-week range that has stretched from the low $200s to the high $380s. $SPCX continued to trade near record territory, extending a rally fueled by Starship cadence, Starlink subscriber growth, and the xAI compute story now housed inside the stock. Broad tech was steady, with the $QQQ holding its ground and chip names including $NVDA in focus given Terafab's supply-chain implications.

Investors can track live quotes on Yahoo Finance (TSLA, SPCX), Google Finance (TSLA, SPCX), the WSJ (TSLA, SPCX), and Nasdaq (TSLA, SPCX).

The Capex Question

The bear case is the obvious one: spending tens of billions on fabs and heavy satellites is a long-duration wager, and the payoff depends on execution across Starship, Bastrop, and Terafab all at once. The bull case, which has had the upper hand, is that Musk's companies keep converting audacious capex into durable advantages — and that owning the compute, as detailed in the Terafab coverage from Teslarati, is exactly the moat AI leaders will need.

For now, the tape suggests investors are willing to fund the ambition. With $TSLA holding its post-delivery gains and $SPCX near highs, the market is treating Musk's compute buildout less as a cost and more as the next growth engine.

This article does not constitute financial advice. Readers are advised to do their own research before investing in the stock market. Prices cited are point-in-time snapshots and may be stale — always confirm on a live financial source.