SpaceX (SPCX) stock slipped in early trading Thursday, giving back more than half of Wednesday’s post-earnings gain.

Shares jumped 7.8% on Wednesday following SpaceX’s upbeat third quarter results and AI commentary.

The stock is under pressure today along with the broader tech trade, following Meta (META) earnings and more headlines suggesting new strikes in the US/Israeli war with Iran.

As for SpaceX, it guided fourth quarter capital expenditures to $35 billion to $40 billion,

up from $19.6 billion

in the third quarter, as more compute capacity comes online. The company ended the quarter with $36.1 billion in debt.

“The earnings call served to amplify the enormous calls on capital that loom over the next few years,” MoffettNathanson analyst Julie Zhu wrote in a note to clients.

“We are investment grade, have a very strong balance sheet, and there are a number of available pools of debt capital,” SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said on the earnings call.

Then there’s the merger talk. Musk said SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA) have each formed special committees of independent directors to study a tie-up, and that he is recused as a conflicted party. “Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes,” Musk said.

That endorsement created a “mess” for the process, a person with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters. Insiders worry the resulting shareholder scrutiny could delay talks by several weeks.

Bloomberg separately reported that the companies are aiming to announce a deal in the first half of 2027.

On the flipside, Wall Street is now more bullish on SpaceX’s prospects. JPMorgan’s Doug Anmuth more than doubled his price target to $500 from $240, citing AI infrastructure growth. BofA raised its target to $275 from $235.

Barclays analyst Dan Levy flagged Tesla’s annual meeting, which must be held by Dec. 6, as the likely venue for a shareholder vote. He added that a deal announced in late October or early November could push approval out six to 12 months.