The boom in AI infrastructure investment is expected to continue! SpaceX (SPCX.US) computing power expansion plan exceeds expectations, J.P. Morgan is optimistic about industry chain beneficiary stocks such as Dell (DELL.US) and Credo (CRDO.US)

The Zhitong Finance App learned that J.P. Morgan Chase said in the latest research report that the results for the third quarter of 2026 announced by SpaceX (SPCX.US) and the latest computing power expansion plan further confirm the strong momentum of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure construction and are expected to ease market concerns that power supply and financing restrictions may slow down AI investment. The bank believes that the positive signal released by SpaceX will not only benefit the entire AI hardware and network equipment industry chain, but will also have a positive impact on companies such as Dell Technology (DELL.US), Credo Technology (CRDO.US), and Ultra Micro Computer (SMCI.US) directly involved in its infrastructure construction.

Recently, as the scale of investment in AI data centers continues to expand, the market has begun to worry about factors such as insufficient power supply, long infrastructure construction cycles, and rising financing costs, which may limit the speed of computing power expansion of technology companies. However, J.P. Morgan believes that the latest operating data and capital expenditure plans disclosed by SpaceX show that demand for AI infrastructure construction is still strong, and related companies have not significantly slowed down the pace of investment due to these restrictions.

According to the latest information disclosed by SpaceX, the company expects the computing power scale to reach 2.5 to 3 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2026, which is higher than the target of more than 2 GW proposed in August this year. SpaceX's computing power reached 1.7 GW at the end of the third quarter, and is expected to expand further by the end of October.

What is more noteworthy is that SpaceX has drastically raised its 2027 computing power construction target. Previously, the company expected to have a cumulative total of 5 to 10 GW of computing power by the end of 2027, and would prefer to approach the upper limit of the range. Today, management expects to add at least 10 GW of computing power in 2027, bringing the total scale to about 13 GW by the end of the year.

At the same time, SpaceX is also planning to further expand the scale of power and cooling infrastructure construction. Under a more optimistic scenario, the company's additional power and cooling infrastructure capacity could reach 20 GW in 2027. Management said that although there is still uncertainty about converting all of this infrastructure into actual computing power, it is not ruled out that the scale of future computing power will further exceed current targets.

J.P. Morgan believes that this plan shows that SpaceX is not only optimistic about future demand for AI computing power, but is also creating conditions for the subsequent deployment of more computing equipment by constructing power and cooling facilities in advance. This certainly sends a positive signal to investors who previously feared that electricity supply could be a major obstacle to the expansion of AI infrastructure.

In terms of capital expenditure, SpaceX expects the investment scale to reach 35 billion to 40 billion US dollars in the fourth quarter of 2026, a significant increase from 19.6 billion US dollars in the third quarter, and far higher than the 6.9 billion US dollars in the same period last year.

If calculated according to the guideline range, the company's capital expenditure in the fourth quarter will increase by about 79% to 104% month-on-month, and the year-on-year increase will reach about 4 to 5 times. This means SpaceX is significantly speeding up the construction of data centers and related infrastructure.

Notably, SpaceX's large-scale investment plans are not entirely based on long-term demand expectations. Management reiterated that according to current computing power rental prices, the payback period for newly deployed computing equipment has been shortened to less than one year.

The company's current computing power rental price is slightly higher than the previous upper limit of $30 to $50 per watt. Management also said that as demand for computing power continues to grow and next-generation computing equipment is put into use, it is not ruled out that the payback period for some projects will be further shortened to about six months in 2027.

J.P. Morgan pointed out that this means that although AI data center construction requires huge investment, current market demand and computing power rental prices can still support a faster return on investment. As far as the financing pressure the market is concerned about, strong revenue monetization capacity is expected to ease investors' concerns to a certain extent.

From an industrial chain perspective, J.P. Morgan believes that SpaceX's expansion plan has important industry reference significance. As US technology companies enter the third quarter earnings disclosure period one after another, SpaceX may become one of the first companies to ease market concerns about the slowdown in AI infrastructure construction through actual investment actions and business prospects.

The bank expects that SpaceX's positive signal will help boost investors' confidence in AI servers, networking equipment and related hardware vendors. Among them, Dell Technology, CreDo, and ultra-microcomputers are worthy of market attention because they directly benefit from SpaceX's infrastructure expansion.

Dell Technology has a business layout in the field of enterprise-grade servers and AI infrastructure. Credo mainly provides high-speed connectivity and data transmission related technologies, while ultra-micro computers are suppliers of AI servers and data center hardware. As SpaceX continues to expand the scale of computing equipment deployment, demand for related hardware and networking products is expected to be supported.

However, the J.P. Morgan Chase research report did not specifically quantify the additional orders or revenue that the above three companies can obtain from the SpaceX expansion plan, nor did it adjust the profit forecasts and target prices of the relevant companies as a result. As of October 20, J.P. Morgan gave Dell Technology and Credo both a “plus” rating, while the rating given to ultra-microcomputers was “neutral.” The three companies' stock prices for the day were $461.56, $171.51, and $32.47, respectively.