Iridium Q3 Revenue Up 8% to $245.7M, But Profit Is an Accounting Gain
IRDM has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $15.645.
Summary
Iridium posted Q3 revenue of $245.7M, up 8% year over year, with service revenue up 13% and EPS of 98c. The $106.9M net income is almost entirely a $103.9M non-cash gain tied to the Aireon acquisition — operating income actually fell to $31.6M, so the headline profit number overstates the underlying business. Debt rose to $2.1B after the Aireon deal. This is the last quarterly print before the $54.00-per-share Rocket Lab acquisition closes; shareholders already approved it with 99.6% of votes cast on September 24, and lenders consented to the change of control in September. With the merger locked in, the operating softness matters less to the stock than deal mechanics, but it does color the quality of the reported earnings.
At the time of this announcement, IRDM was trading at $44.10 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.7B. The 52-week trading range was $15.65 to $57.18. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.