Elon Musk Can’t Get Starlink in India. What It Means for SpaceX Stock

Dow Jones
Yesterday

SpaceX stock slipped 2% on Thursday as investors pondered Starlink expansion in India.

Shares of Elon Musk’s rocket and artificial-intelligence company were down 0.8% at $166.30, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

The move follows a Wednesday tweet from Musk blaming “certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people.”

Musk has said local internet providers in India, such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, are making it difficult to launch Starlink in the country.

Starlink is SpaceX’s space-based broadband operating in more than 160 countries. It ended the second quarter with about 12 million subscribers.

Operations, however, require wireless spectrum to beam signals. Just as two radio stations in the same area can’t broadcast on the same frequency, wireless data providers need their own spectrum to send information. Starlink is still waiting for its satellite spectrum in India.

For investors, regulatory delays or competitive actions from rival internet providers represent a potential headwind to growth.

Starlink is expected to generate about $4.8 billion in third-quarter revenue, up from $4.3 billion in the second quarter.

“Exiting September, global consumer subscriber count is estimated to be 13.5 million with greater than 370,000 net additions in the month,” wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu in a recent report. “North America led with 5.5 million subscribers, representing 41% of mix, and added 126,000 subs during the month.”

For now, there is plenty of growth for the company without India.

Investors will get a more accurate subscriber count and Starlink update when SpaceX reports third-quarter earnings in a few weeks. SpaceX’s quarterly artificial intelligence revenue is expected to top Starlink’s for the first time.

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