Stories about space companies’ finances, including earnings reports and M&A news.
Pine Technology Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:PTOC) and Tomorrow.io (née ClimaCell) have called off their SPAC merger, the two said yesterday. $PTOC closed the day down ~1.4%. Announced Dec. 7, the transaction was expected to give the weather forecasting company (and nascent constellation developer) a $1.2B post-deal valuation, while providing Tomorrow.io with up to $420M in gross […]
Last Monday, Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on Virgin Orbit (NASDAQ:VORB) with a ‘Buy’ rating and $20 price target. Shares of $VORB were $6.92 when Canaccord published its research. This morning, they sat at $6.57. Defense: In the Feb. 28 note seen by Payload, CG Analyst Austin Moeller refers to the air launcher as an “emerging […]
Image via Rocket Lab Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) doesn’t procrastinate on Mondays. The launcher had a busy day. In NZ: Rocket Lab launched “The Owl’s Night Continues” from its new Pad B. An Electron successfully deployed a StriX-β satellite for Japanese SAR operator Synspective. To date, Rocket Lab has now deployed 110 satellites. In VA: As […]
This morning, Seattle-based BlackSky (NYSE:BKSY) reported Q4 and full-year 2021 results. Q4 financial highlights: BlackSky recorded $11.5M in revenue, up 79% year-over-year Operating loss stood at $31.9M; Adj. EBITDA loss was $14.4M (more on that below). Going into 2022, BlackSky had $168M in cash. In Q4, BlackSky recorded $14.4M in capex spend. Financial highlights for […]
Graph: Promus Ventures. Snapshot taken Feb. 17, 2022 before market open. As we’ve written before, investing in space is not for the faint of heart. In a recent op-ed for the FT, Sinéad O’Sullivan, a space economist, HBS senior researcher, and friend of Payload, digs a bit deeper into the dynamics of space investing. The good: In 2021, […]
After a few weeks of tension, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has decided to call off its acquisition of missile and rocket propulsion manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD). ICYMI: In late January, the FTC sued to block a $4.4B acquisition deal between Lockheed and Aerojet, originally announced in 2020. The commission alleged that the merger would allow Lockheed to inflate the […]
After a couple scrubs, Astra (NASDAQ:ASTR) launched Thursday for the first time from the Space Coast. LV0008 flew smoothly and nominally for roughly three minutes, but ended up failing mid-flight. What happened? Something went awry upon stage separation. The rocket’s upper stage began spinning shortly after engine ignition (based on the live feed). The payloads: Four NASA-sponsored […]
Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) reported earnings last Thursday. Highlights for the satellite communications player: $720M in Q4 2021 revenues, which is up 25% year-over-year. Sales in Viasat’s Satellite Services segment were $310M, a YoY increase of 43%, largely driven by new aviation customers. Viasat posted a net loss of $6.6M, which the company attributed to “higher depreciation and […]
Image: D-Orbit. See investor deck here. On the heels of Satellogic ($SATL) completing its reverse merger just this week, another space player is preparing to go public via SPAC. This morning, D-Orbit announced its intentions to merge with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:BREZ). D-Orbit offers “last-mile,” in-space transport services via its ION Satellite Carrier. D-Orbit has used ION […]
Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of Planet (NYSE:PL) with a buy rating and $11 price target, implying an upside 80+%. $PL traded up ~10.5% on Wednesday. Earth observation (EO) company Planet went public (via SPAC, obviously) in early December, in a deal valuing the company at $2.8B. The company’s stock has fallen by ~50% since […]
Virgin Orbit said Tuesday SPAC shareholders have voted to approve its SPAC merger with Nextgen Acquisition Corp. II. Virgin expects the de-SPAC to take place this year (so, this week). After the transaction closes, the combined entity will become a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ with the $VORB ticker. SPAC deets: Virgin Orbit expects to pull […]
Planet Labs is nearly ready to take its talents to the public markets at a $2.8B valuation. Yesterday, Planet’s C-suite held court with investors to sell the vision. A decade of history in ~60 words: Planet set out to image and index all of Earth every day. The company developed a constellation of 200 satellites, created the […]
