According to Barclays analysts, a potential merger between Tesla and Elon Musk’s SpaceX could be announced before the electric vehicle manufacturer’s 2026 annual shareholder meeting with the consolidated entity viewed as a way to consolidate control over Musk’s artificial intelligence ambitions.

While a merger could generate financial efficiencies, Barclays believes its greater value would come from integrating companies, their artificial intelligence companies, and infrastructure investments. The analyst warned that an investment too close to the shareholder meeting could imperil the approval process.

A statement from Barclays reads: “While it is possible that a merger announcement could be delayed until late October or even early November, we believe such a timing could make it more difficult to approve the transaction at the annual shareholder meeting.”

Barclays said a potential Tesla-SpaceX combination had become the mainstream expectation among investors. The bank identified shareholder voting as a substantial bottleneck with investors in both companies required to vote on a potential transaction. Primarily, the potential merger would bring together two businesses that have deepened their AI integration even though their primary core activities remain different.

Artificial intelligence is poised to become SpaceX’s largest source of revenue during 2026, according to Bloomberg Intelligence models. Barclays believes that the combination would allow Musk to integrate AI development more closely across computing infrastructure and client operation.

Nonetheless, Barclays anticipates the timing of any announcement will be influenced by the December shareholder meeting though neither company has confirmed a binding agreement for a transaction.