Planet Labs' stock price has surged sharply in recent months, reflecting market optimism about its business with government agencies and new high-end satellite plans, and the upward trend may not have ended yet.
The company is a commercial satellite imaging company located in San Francisco, California, USA, with over 180 satellites dedicated to capturing images of the Earth.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives is a well-known technology bull who has raised the target price of the stock from $20 to $28, citing "significant demand" for Planet Labs satellites and data in the US and overseas markets. The new target price is over 9% higher than the current level.
The stock has surged 588% in the past 12 months and is currently trading at over $25.
On Monday of this week, the company announced a nine figure multi-year contract with the Swedish military to provide it with satellite, space data, and situational awareness solutions, with satellite ownership belonging to the Swedish side. Ives' optimistic judgment comes from this news.
This is Planet Labs' third order in the past 12 months to provide similar services to the government. The company stated that the total value of its cooperation with JSAT in Sweden, Germany, and Japan exceeds $500 million.
The company also has multiple agreements with the United States, including a $13.5 million contract to provide data to NASA and a $7.5 million contract to provide services to the Navy. The backlog of orders in the third quarter tripled year-on-year to $734 million.
In Monday's investor report, Ives stated that the company continues to provide essential mission support for a wide range of government applications, particularly in the defense and intelligence sectors.
Later this year, Planet Labs plans to showcase a new generation of satellites that can analyze and provide higher resolution images through artificial intelligence in less than an hour. The company stated that these "Owl" satellites will assist customers in obtaining support in disaster relief, intelligence gathering, and military response.
Planet Labs stated that revenue from its collaboration with Sweden will be recognized on a yearly basis and will not affect the company's previous financial guidance for the fourth quarter. The company expects its revenue for this quarter to reach $76 million to $80 million, higher than the $61.6 million for the same period last year.
Planet Labs went public in 2021 through a special purpose acquisition, with a valuation of approximately $2.8 billion. At present, the company's market value has reached about 8 billion US dollars.
Google's parent company Alphabet (GOOG) is the largest shareholder of Planet Labs, holding nearly 11% of the shares. According to FactSet data, the two companies are also collaborating on the "Suncatcher Project," in which Google attempts to construct a solar satellite constellation driven by its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU).
These constellations will operate as artificial intelligence data centers in principle, and are seen as having the potential to provide cheap energy and alleviate the potential energy crisis brought by artificial intelligence. Google plans to launch two prototype satellites as early as early 2027 to test hardware.
Ives pointed out that with the integration of artificial intelligence driving the increase in solar data applications, he believes that Planet Labs is at the intersection of space technology and artificial intelligence, and is expected to fully grasp this rapidly growing market.
