Planet Labs reported record quarterly revenue of $116.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, as the handover of a reconnaissance satellite to the Swedish Armed Forces and expanding defense demand lifted revenue 58% year over year.<\/p>\n
The Earth observation company announced the results on September 3 for the three months ended July 31, 2026. Revenue increased from approximately $73.4 million in the same period a year earlier, while the GAAP net loss narrowed to $9.4 million from $22.6 million.<\/p>\n
Adjusted EBITDA reached a profit of $13.9 million, more than double the $6.4 million recorded in the prior-year quarter. Planet said the result marked its fourth consecutive quarter of meeting or exceeding the Rule of 40, which it defines as the sum of year-over-year revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin.<\/p>\n
GAAP gross margin declined slightly to 57% from 58%, while non-GAAP gross margin fell to 59% from 61%. The contraction reflects, in part, a changing revenue mix as satellite delivery and dedicated-capacity programs become more prominent alongside Planet\u2019s imagery subscriptions and analytics products.<\/p>\n
Planet attributed much of the quarterly increase to satellite services, including completion of commissioning and handover of the Swedish Armed Forces\u2019 first sovereign reconnaissance satellite.<\/p>\n
The milestone demonstrates an increasingly important commercial model for Earth observation companies: supplying governments with dedicated space-based capacity without requiring them to develop an entire satellite program, manufacturing base and operational architecture independently.<\/p>\n
Under this model, Planet can combine satellite design and manufacturing, launch procurement, commissioning, imagery infrastructure and analytical services in a single program. Government customers gain greater control over collection priorities and capacity, while drawing on Planet\u2019s existing constellation, ground systems and data-processing capabilities.<\/p>\n
The Swedish handover also introduced more point-in-time revenue into Planet\u2019s accounts. Such revenue represented 12% of the second-quarter total, compared with only 1% a year earlier. Revenue associated with a satellite handover can be recognized when contractual milestones are completed, producing larger but less evenly distributed contributions than recurring imagery subscriptions.<\/p>\n
That dynamic helps explain why Planet expects revenue to decline sequentially in the third quarter even as underlying demand remains strong. The company forecast third-quarter revenue of $101 million to $105 million, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $1 million and $6 million.<\/p>\n
Planet\u2019s established data business remains highly recurring. Recurring contracts accounted for 98% of annual contract value at the end of the quarter, although Planet\u2019s ACV calculation excludes satellite-services contracts. The distinction is important: subscription imagery supports predictable revenue, while sovereign satellite programs can add larger contract values but introduce milestone-driven variability.<\/p>\n
Revenue from defense and intelligence customers grew by more than 90% year over year. The segment has benefited from government demand for persistent monitoring, rapid revisit and independent access to geospatial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Planet\u2019s large fleet of SuperDove satellites provides frequent, broad-area coverage, while its higher-resolution SkySat and emerging Pelican capabilities support more detailed observation and targeted collection. This combination allows customers to use wide-area imagery to identify change and then apply higher-resolution systems to investigate selected locations.<\/p>\n
The value of that architecture increasingly depends on automated exploitation rather than imagery alone. Persistent global collection produces datasets too large for analysts to examine manually, making change detection, pattern recognition and natural-language access central to operational use.<\/p>\n
Planet said its agentic artificial-intelligence application had entered open beta. The product is intended to let users query Planet\u2019s imagery archive through natural language, potentially lowering the technical barrier for organizations without large internal geospatial teams.<\/p>\n
Two government awards announced in August, after the fiscal second quarter closed, indicate that the defense-led momentum is continuing.<\/p>\n
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awarded Planet an $8 million other transaction agreement to deploy its Global Monitoring Service. The system combines Planet\u2019s daily global imagery with AI-supported analysis to detect activity and emerging patterns across large areas.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Federal Ministry of the Interior also selected Planet to provide dedicated-capacity satellite services under a tender worth up to \u20ac25 million over five years, including options. Separately, Planet secured a seven-figure, one-year contract with an unidentified European defense and intelligence customer for high-resolution global mosaics and professional services supporting operational planning.<\/p>\n
These awards reflect a broader shift in government procurement. Instead of purchasing only individual images, agencies are increasingly seeking assured collection capacity, continuously updated datasets and analytical outputs that can feed directly into national-security workflows.<\/p>\n
Planet ended the quarter with remaining performance obligations of $753.1 million, up approximately 9% year over year. About 46% is expected to convert into revenue within 12 months and 68% within 24 months.<\/p>\n
The company estimated total backlog at $814.9 million, an increase of approximately 11%. Roughly half of that amount applies to the next 12 months and 70% to the next 24 months.<\/p>\n
Backlog is broader than remaining performance obligations because it includes portions of contracts containing termination-for-convenience provisions and orders for which funding may not yet have been appropriated. Such terms are common in government procurement, meaning the figure provides useful demand visibility but should not be treated as guaranteed revenue.<\/p>\n
Planet also signed its first nationwide program of its kind in Africa during the quarter. The agreement with the Rwanda Space Agency covers high-resolution data and analytics for government ministries, agencies and public universities, supporting agriculture, urban management, spatial planning and disaster response.<\/p>\n
Commercial applications remain part of the growth strategy. Planet renewed an agreement with a hyperscale AI developer that uses Pelican imagery to track construction of data centers and semiconductor facilities. It also partnered with FarmQA on AI-based agricultural intelligence and with Braga Technologies on automated change detection for natural-resource and civil-government applications.<\/p>\n
Planet launched the Pelican-11 technology demonstration satellite in July, bringing the number of high-resolution Pelican spacecraft in orbit to 10. The company subsequently shipped the Tanager-2 hyperspectral satellite and 18 SuperDoves to Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch on SpaceX\u2019s Transporter-18 rideshare mission.<\/p>\n
Tanager-2 is designed to collect hyperspectral measurements across many narrow spectral bands, enabling identification of chemical and material signatures that conventional multispectral imagery cannot resolve. The 18 SuperDoves will replenish and expand Planet\u2019s daily-monitoring constellation.<\/p>\n
Planet also reached a strategic launch agreement with Isar Aerospace for a German-built rocket to carry a Pelican satellite manufactured in Germany. Additional missions are planned under the arrangement. The company began preparing an expanded Berlin facility on September 1, with satellite manufacturing scheduled to start in 2026.<\/p>\n
Expanding production in Europe could support sovereign procurement by giving customers a more regional satellite supply chain. It may also reduce political and regulatory friction for European defense programs that place weight on local manufacturing, assured access and industrial autonomy.<\/p>\n
The investment comes with higher near-term spending. Planet now expects fiscal 2027 capital expenditures of $100 million to $115 million, including $30 million to $37 million in the third quarter. The funding will support next-generation constellations and additional manufacturing capacity.<\/p>\n
Planet ended July with $865.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, up 219% year over year. That balance included approximately $120 million raised through its at-the-market equity program during the quarter at an average net price of $31.95 per share. Year-to-date operating cash flow was $68.4 million, while free cash flow reached $21.3 million.<\/p>\n
For fiscal 2027, Planet raised the lower end of its revenue outlook and now expects $430 million to $441 million, representing annual growth of approximately 40% to 43%. It forecast a non-GAAP gross margin of 55% to 57% and adjusted EBITDA profit of $3 million to $10 million.<\/p>\n
The quarter shows Planet evolving from a predominantly subscription-based imagery supplier into a hybrid provider of global data, AI-enabled analysis and dedicated national satellite capacity. That mix expands its addressable government market, but it also makes manufacturing execution, spacecraft commissioning and the timing of sovereign-program milestones increasingly important to financial performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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