Planet Labs earnings look rock-solid. Still that wasn't enough for investors who have caught space fever.
On Thursday evening, the Earth imaging company reported a fiscal first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, loss of $1 million from sales of $94.2 million. Wall Street was looking for a $5.3 million loss from sales of $90 million. A year ago, Planet reported positive Ebitda of $1.2 million from sales of $66.3 million.
Looking ahead, Planet Labs sees second-quarter sales of between $102 million and $107 million. Adjusted Ebitda should be about $2.5 million. Wall Street expects sales of $101 million and a small Ebitda loss.
Still, the results and the outlook weren't enough for the stock shortly after results were released. Shares were down 3.4% in after-hours trading at $42.06.
Expectations were running high. Space stocks have been on fire lately, partly due to expectations for the SpaceX IPO. Elon Musk's rocket company plans to raise $75 billion, valuing it at about $1.8 trillion, signaling what is possible for space-based valuations.
Through Thursday trading, Planet stock has gained 236% over the past six months and up almost 1,000% over the past 12.
But SpaceX didn't drive all of those gains: Planet Labs' shares soared 25.5% in March after the company reported a surprise fourth-quarter profit from better-than-expected sales. Planet Labs generated positive Ebitda of $2.3 million from sales of $86.8 million. Wall Street was looking for a $6 million loss and sales of $ 78 million.
The company ended the first quarter with about $731 million in cash on its books. Wall Street sees only modest cash usage over the course of 2026. Capital spending in the second quarter is expected to be about $24 million. That was a tough higher than analysts projected, but not by much.
The best explanation for the post-earnings dip might just be profit-taking after an epic run.
Gains have left shares trading for about 33 times sales expected over the coming 12 monhts, up from about 4 times a year ago.