San Francisco, June 4, 2026, 14:03 PDT
Planet Labs posted record fiscal Q1 revenue of $94.2 million, a 42% jump from last year. The company’s backlog climbed 72% to over $906 million, driven by higher government and defense demand. Planet Labs projected fiscal 2027 revenue in the range of $425 million to $441 million.
Planet posted revenue ahead of the Zacks consensus, which had called for $89.8 million. Non-GAAP loss per share was 3 cents, matching the Zacks estimate. That gave investors a clearer win on the top line than on profits.
The bar was high for Planet going into earnings. Syndicated StockStory said shares climbed 25.1% in the past month and were above the average analyst price target in that preview.
Planet shares have been under pressure. The Motley Fool said on May 29 that Planet’s stock dropped 11.2% that morning after a Blue Origin New Glenn engine-test explosion triggered worries about launch capacity. The piece made clear Planet doesn’t use Blue Origin for its satellites.
Planet reported that 99% of annual contract value at the end of the quarter was recurring revenue, pointing to its subscription-based model. Gross margin slipped to 54% from 55% the previous year. Non-GAAP gross margin dropped to 56%, down from 59%.
Planet CEO Will Marshall said the quarter was an “excellent start to the year” and credited artificial intelligence for boosting demand for the company’s data. CFO Ashley Johnson said the backlog “grew 72% year-over-year,” which she said improved visibility into upcoming revenue. Business Wire
Defense contracts stayed in focus. Planet reported the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency gave it a $21.9 million one-year extension on the Luno B maritime surveillance deal and a new Global Monitoring Service award for crisis response work. Maritime domain awareness involves using data and analytics to track ship movements and sea activity.
NGA picked 13 vendors for its $200 million Luno B commercial data contract. BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, Maxar Mission Solutions and Planet Labs Federal are on the list. The contract is a competitive market, and vendors will compete for future delivery orders.
Planet turned to new hardware too. The company said it launched three Pelican satellites in May, one of those being Sweden’s first sovereign reconnaissance satellite. Earlier this week, Planet shipped Pelican-11 to Vandenberg Space Force Base to join a SpaceX rideshare. Pelican-11 is for testing and will not give commercial data.
The quarter wasn’t smooth. Net loss widened to $138.9 million from $12.6 million a year ago, mainly because of a $106.5 million warrant-liability revaluation on the jump in Planet’s share price. Adjusted EBITDA, which strips out interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and some other items, also turned. It swung to a $1.0 million loss after a $1.2 million profit last year. Free cash flow was negative $2.5 million.
Backlog comes with a warning. Planet said its backlog figure includes some contracts customers can cancel at any time or where funding isn’t yet set, so the company might not get the full amount from those deals.
Planet is guiding for second-quarter revenue between $102 million and $107 million, with adjusted EBITDA seen at zero to $5 million. The main question now is if big government deals and Pelican orders are enough to lift revenue above forecasts while not hurting cash flow or margins.
