Iridium (IRDM Quick QuoteIRDM - Free Report) is working with SpaceX to launch up to five of its remaining additional ground satellites of the Iridium Next Program through SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

The launch dubbed as Iridium-9 is scheduled in mid-2023 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Currently, Iridium has 66 operational satellites and nine on-orbit spares. It has six additional satellites on the ground, five of which will be a part of Iridium-9 launch. 

SpaceX has already conducted eight launches for Iridium between January 2017 and January 2019. These launches consisted delivery of 75 satellites to the low earth orbit of “LEO”. These launches were part of the Iridium NEXT program to replace the existing satellite constellation of the company.

Iridium’s new satellites are built by Thales Alenia Space. These satellites have the Aireon-hosted payload designed to carry out real-time surveillance of aircrafts globally.

Headquartered in McLean, VA, Iridium is the only satellite communications company that offers dedicated commercial global voice and data communications. The company delivers reliable and low latency communications services to businesses, consumers, wireline and wireless telecommunications operators and Internet service providers.

Iridium Communications Inc Price and Consensus

 

Iridium Communications Inc price-consensus-chart | Iridium Communications Inc Quote

Iridium also delivers cost-effective broadband services through its Certus technology and shares strategic relationships with government organizations. The company is witnessing steady subscriber growth and mobile penetration backed by an efficient operating model. It is focused on augmenting commercial and government service revenues.

In the second quarter of 2022, service revenues increased 10% year over year to $132.9 million, driven by strong revenues from a growing subscriber base. As of Jun 30, 2022, the company had 1,875,000 billable subscribers, up 16% compared with 1,616,000 at the end of the prior-year quarter.

Iridium expects commercial service revenues to benefit from growth in IoT, ongoing activations and solid uptake of the company’s broadband services. The company expects service revenues to increase between 7% and 9% in 2022 against the earlier guidance of 5-7% growth in 2022.

However, supply chain disruptions pose a significant headwind. Stiff competition from regional market suppliers restricts its potential to attract new customers. Increasing costs and higher lead time to obtain spectrum licenses added concerns.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

At present, Iridium carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Cadence Design Systems (CDNS Quick QuoteCDNS - Free Report) , Keysight Technologies (KEYS Quick QuoteKEYS - Free Report) and Arista Networks (ANET Quick QuoteANET - Free Report) . All stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CDNS 2022 earnings is pegged at $4.11 per share, rising 5.7% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 17.7%.

Cadence’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 9.8%. Shares of CDNS are up 3% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Keysight’s fiscal 2022 earnings is pegged at $7.47 per share, up 4.3% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 11%.

Keysight’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the preceding four quarters, with the average being 9.3%. Shares of KEYS have lost 4% of their value in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arista Network’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $4.04 per share, increasing 9.8% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 18.6%.

Arista Network’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 10.1%. Shares of ANET have increased 40% in the past year.