Elon Musk said Tuesday that merging his two companies, Tesla and SpaceX, would be "a good idea," revealing that both companies have formed special committees of independent directors to explore a potential deal.
Musk, who leads both companies, has previously entertained the idea of combining the businesses, pointing to growing overlap between them.
Following SpaceX's quarterly earnings report and Musk's comments during a conference call with investors Tuesday, shares of SpaceX jumped as much as 8% in extended trading.
"I think it would be a good idea, but it's really up to the special committees of both companies," Musk said. "Because I'm a conflicted party, I can't actually be in the discussions of the special committees."
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Musk said the companies formed the special committees at the request of shareholders, who would ultimately need to approve any merger.
"I do think there's a lot of merit to combining the companies as we are pretty much in the superintelligence singularity, and there's a lot to be gained from cooperating on developing superintelligence software, chip design, the Terafab obviously, robotics, mass-to-orbit with the Starmind constellation, connectivity," Musk said.
Speculation about a potential combination, including the possibility of SpaceX acquiring Tesla, has intensified, with Barclays suggesting last week that a deal could be announced as early as December, according to Reuters.
Musk cautioned that it was too soon to know whether the merger would ultimately happen.
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The potential merger comes as SpaceX reported its first profit as a publicly traded company earlier Tuesday.
According to Musk, the company expects annual recurring revenue of $500 billion to $1 trillion by the end of 2027.
Musk owns a significant stake in SpaceX while retaining substantial voting control over the company.
Earlier this week, Musk pledged to give every child in America one share of SpaceX next year and suggested the planned giveaway could be the first of several.
Tesla has also drawn attention recently, unveiling its long-anticipated Roadster last week during a showcase in which the vehicle used compressed-air thrusters to launch off a ramp and perform a midair maneuver.
Reuters contributed to this report.