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Iridium (IRDM) Receives Major Contract From U.S. Space Force

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Iridium Communications (IRDM - Free Report) recently secured a five-year contract, which is extendable for an additional five years contract from the U.S. Space Force. The contract is aimed at further enhancing the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) SATCOM portfolio.

This contract falls under the category of Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity, which is part of the U.S. Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services award and involves collaboration with various Iridium partners.

Iridium Certus services offer reliable and weather-resistant connectivity for mobile Internet and high-quality voice communication. This reliability is crucial for the Joint All Domain Command and Control's Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency communications system. The contract encompasses the provision of Iridium Certus terminals and services, offering essential broadband and midband capabilities to support modern warfighters.

Iridium is the only satellite communications company that offers dedicated commercial global voice and data communications. Iridium provides weather-resilient L-band connectivity and global coverage compared to geostationary systems by leveraging its Low-Earth-Orbit satellite network.

The company shares a strategic relationship with various government organizations, including military and disaster response agencies and non-governmental organizations, to provide robust, tactical, real-time voice and low-latency data command and control communications on a regular basis. The company expects U.S. government business to produce revenues of $106 million in 2023.

In July, the company unveiled its latest offering — the Iridium Certus aviation commercial service. This service ensures a secure cockpit domain with reliable voice and data capabilities. This marks a significant achievement as it brings Iridium Connected aviation solutions to commercial transport aircraft, business aviation and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems.

Iridium currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have gained 5.3% in the past year compared with the sub-industry’s growth of 5.2%.

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Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology space are Woodward (WWD - Free Report) , Aspen Technology (AZPN - Free Report) and Badger Meter (BMI - Free Report) . Woodward presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas Badger Meter and Aspen Technology currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Woodward’s fiscal 2023 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 15.9% in the past 60 days to $4.15.

WWD’s long-term earnings growth rate is 13.5%. Shares of WWD have gained 37.6% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Aspen Technology’s fiscal 2024 EPS has increased 5.8% in the past 60 days to $6.58.

Aspen Technology’s long-term earnings growth rate is 17.1%. Shares of AZPN have declined 12.6% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Badger Meter’s 2023 EPS has increased 6.3% in the past 60 days to $2.86.

Badger Meter’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the last four quarters, the average being 6.7%. Shares of BMI have surged 69.5% in the past year.

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