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Here's Why Investors May Consider Betting on Iridium (IRDM)

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Iridium Communications (IRDM - Free Report) is one stock investors may want to keep an eye on in the current volatile market conditions, given its upside potential. The company currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company’s 2022 and 2023 revenues are anticipated to rise 13.6% and 6.1%, year over year, respectively. The company’s earnings are expected to increase 271.4% and 61.1% on a year-over-year basis in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The company raised its outlook for 2022 owing to continued momentum for its products and services. The company’s performance is also expected 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. Iridium now expects full-year 2022 OEBITDA between $410 million and $420 million compared with the earlier guidance of $400-$410 million.

For the third quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues stands at $180.8 million, up 11.5% year over year. Also, the consensus mark for earnings is pegged at 2 cents per share, up 200% year over year.

Iridium has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average earnings surprise of 100%.

In the last reported quarter, reported earnings of 4 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of breakeven earnings. The company delivered 3 cents in the prior-year quarter.

Quarterly revenues of $174.9 million increased 17% from the year-ago quarter’s levels owing to higher demand for equipment and new subscriber activations. The top line surpassed the consensus mark by 6.6%.

IRDM stock is down 2.6% from its 52-week high level of $48.69 on Oct 6, 2022, making it relatively affordable for investors.

Iridium also has the favorable combination of a Growth Score of B and a Zacks Rank #1. Per Zacks’ proprietary methodology, stocks with a combination of a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 (Buy) and a Growth Score of A or B offer solid investment opportunities.

Strong Fundamentals

Iridium delivers reliable and low-latency communications services to businesses, consumers, wireline and wireless telecommunications operators and Internet service providers.

The company also offers commercial satellite communication services to the U.S. and foreign governments and other non-governmental organizations.

Recently, the company announced that it is 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 Iridium-9, is scheduled for 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 the Iridium-9 launch.

In September, the company announced Operation Pacific Waves (OPW), which will deploy Iridium and Iridium Connected equipment in live scenarios. The OPW involves more than 20 organizations like the U.S. Department of Defense to support Indo-Pacific mission sets enabled by Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services.

The company is also benefiting from its subscriber base owing to robust demand for consumer-oriented devices and higher service revenues. The continued momentum in commercial IoT business (particularly personal satellite communications) and broadband business is expected to benefit the company in the coming quarters.

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.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Synopsys (SNPS - Free Report) , Pure Storage (PSTG - Free Report) and Arista Networks (ANET - Free Report) . Pure Storage and Arista Networks currently sports a Zacks Rank #1, whereas Synopsys presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Synopsys 2022 earnings is pegged at $8.85 per share, up 4.5% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 16.2%.

Synopsys earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 3%. Shares of SNPS have increased 7.9% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PSTG 2022 earnings is pegged at $1.18 per share, rising 24.2% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 35.5%.

Pure Storage’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 171.8%. Shares of PSTG have increased 13.5% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Arista Network’s 2022 earnings is pegged at $4.04 per share, increasing 1.3% in the past 60 days. The long-term earnings growth rate is anticipated to be 15.7%.

Arista Network’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in the last four quarters, the average being 10.1%. Shares of ANET have increased 33.9% in the past year.

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