What Happened?
Shares of earth imaging satellite company Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) jumped 4.9% in the afternoon session after continued positive momentum following a series of major contract wins in the defense and intelligence sector announced earlier in the month.
Investors are still reacting favorably to news from early July, when the company announced four significant awards for its AI-enabled solutions. The most substantial of these was a multi-year, €240 million satellite services agreement funded by the German government to enhance European peace and security. Under the deal, Planet will provide dedicated satellite capacity, data, and AI-powered solutions for situational awareness.
Additionally, the company secured a seven-figure contract expansion with the U.S. Navy for Maritime Domain Awareness and an expanded agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense. This string of high-value contracts underscores the growing demand for Planet's satellite imagery and data analytics capabilities within the global security landscape, boosting investor confidence in the company's growth trajectory.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $7.02, up 3.2% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Planet Labs’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 65 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was about 2 months ago when the stock gained 54.6% on the news that the company reported impressive "beat and raise" first quarter 2025 results, which blew past analysts' revenue, EPS, and EBITDA expectations. The company reported triple-digit growth in key growth indicators, including RPO and backlog, demonstrating the health of its sales pipeline. Adding to the positive aspect, it lifted its full-year revenue guidance. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives.
Planet Labs is up 76.7% since the beginning of the year, and at $7.02 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Planet Labs’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $708.59.
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