Intuitive Machines Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Revenue and backlog surged: Intuitive Machines reported Q2 revenue of $206 million, more than four times the prior-year result, and reaffirmed full-year guidance of $900 million to $1 billion with positive adjusted EBITDA expected. Backlog reached approximately $1.8 billion, supported by $1.7 billion in year-to-date bookings.
• Profitability improved but cash use remained significant: Gross profit rose to $36 million and adjusted EBITDA improved to a $14 million loss, while the company used $84 million in cash during the quarter. It ended with $367 million in cash, including $235 million raised through its at-the-market program.
• Space infrastructure pipeline expanded: New satellite, lunar and national-security awards include more than $600 million for three geostationary communications satellites and NASA’s CS-8 lunar mission. The company is also expanding Houston production capacity and plans to accelerate its lunar communications constellation, with four additional relay satellites targeted for launch in 2028.

Intuitive Machines NASDAQ: LUNR reported second-quarter revenue of $206 million, more than four times its prior-year result, as the company expanded its satellite manufacturing, lunar-services and national-security operations. Management reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion and its expectation for positive adjusted EBITDA.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Altemus said the company ended the quarter with approximately $1.8 billion in backlog and more than 80 spacecraft under contract. The backlog was composed of about 37% civil-space work, 49% commercial-space work and 14% national-security work. Through the date of the earnings call, Intuitive Machines had generated $1.7 billion in year-to-date bookings, including $1.2 billion in new bookings during the second quarter and afterward.

“This marks the highest quarterly bookings in company history,” Altemus said, adding that authority-to-proceed awards could contribute another $300 million in bookings during the second half as contracts are finalized.

Financial Results and Cash Investment

Chief Financial Officer Pete McGrath said quarterly gross profit rose to $36 million from a loss of $12 million a year earlier, supported by a greater contribution from the company’s satellite business and cost and execution efforts across programs. Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of $14 million from a loss of $25 million in the prior-year period.

Operating loss was $47 million, reflecting higher selling, general and administrative expenses, amortization and a $14.7 million estimated-at-completion adjustment for the IM-4 mission to accommodate payload changes. SG&A expense was $60 million, including approximately $11 million in share-based compensation and $8 million in acquisition-related transaction and integration costs.

Operating cash used during the quarter was $60 million, while capital expenditures were $24 million. McGrath said the company deployed $84 million of cash during the period, citing strategic inventory purchases, infrastructure investments, acquisition-related costs and a $17 million IM-4 milestone payment to SpaceX.

The company ended the quarter with $367 million in cash, including $235 million in net proceeds raised through its at-the-market program during the quarter. McGrath said free cash flow is expected to improve in the second half as investments stabilize and the company receives milestone payments tied to recent awards.

Management said roughly 25% to 30% of backlog is expected to convert to revenue in 2026, with 35% to 40% expected in 2027 and the remainder thereafter. McGrath said the main variable within the company’s 2026 revenue outlook is the timing of contract finalization and revenue conversion rather than demand.

Satellite Manufacturing Awards Build Backlog

Intuitive Machines cited several recent manufacturing awards across commercial and national-security markets. During the quarter, the company delivered all 16 satellites supporting the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 tracking layer and continued production for Tranche 2. It also has awards for 18 Tranche 3 tracking-layer satellites and an additional 18 satellites supporting AMDT3, part of the Golden Dome architecture.

Altemus said the company has more than 70 IM-300 spacecraft under contract. He described the IM-300 series as a production program with significant commonality across the satellite bus, while other company programs include IM-1300 geostationary communications satellites, lunar landers, orbital transfer vehicles and lunar relay satellites.

In commercial space, Intuitive Machines received an award for three geostationary communications satellites from an undisclosed customer, valued at more than $600 million over the next 30 months. The company also said SiriusXM’s SXM-11 spacecraft launched and deployed during the quarter and was expected to be handed over to the customer later in August.

The company is also discussing strategic partnerships in the emerging orbital data-center market, according to Altemus.

Lunar Programs and Communications Network

NASA selected Intuitive Machines for the CS-8 mission during the quarter, extending the company’s lunar delivery schedule beyond 2028 and into 2030. The award represents the company’s sixth mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, contract. Earlier in the year, Intuitive Machines received the CT-4 mission award.

Altemus said the company expects to pursue additional CLPS opportunities, including two landed missions, a lunar orbiter-surveyor opportunity and the anticipated CLPS 2.0 multi-award contract. He said the proposed CLPS 2.0 contract is expected to exceed $10 billion and support heavier cargo landers.

The company’s IM-3 mission remains scheduled for a January-through-March 2027 launch window aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Altemus said the spacecraft is in assembly, integration and testing, with an engine hot-fire test and a delta flight-readiness review planned before launch.

Intuitive Machines also plans to accelerate deployment of its lunar communications constellation. Its Altus-1 lunar communications relay satellite is scheduled to launch on IM-3 in the first quarter of 2027. Rather than deploying the remaining Altus-2 through Altus-5 satellites incrementally on later lunar missions, the company plans to launch the four satellites together in 2028.

Altemus said the revised approach is intended to establish full operational capability ahead of schedule for Artemis-related activity. The network is expected to provide pay-by-the-minute data relay services as well as positioning, navigation and timing capabilities.

Production Capacity and Longer-Term Operations

Management emphasized its strategy to build, connect and operate space infrastructure, supported by acquisitions including Lanteris, KinetX, Goonhilly Earth Station and COMSAT. Altemus said these additions expanded the company’s satellite manufacturing, mission operations, navigation and ground-communications capabilities.

The company is increasing manufacturing capacity in Houston, including an additional 75,000 square feet of production and manufacturing space. Altemus said the expanded facilities are intended to support higher lunar-lander cadence and production of the larger Nova-D lander, which is designed to deliver about 500 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface.

Management said the Nova-D program is funded under existing contracts, while future investments may focus on technologies required for heavier cargo landers. The company continues to target recurring revenue from communications, navigation, hosted payloads, mission operations and data services as its infrastructure assets become operational.

About Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR)

Intuitive Machines is a Houston, Texas–based aerospace company specializing in commercial lunar exploration and services. The firm develops end-to-end solutions for robotic missions to the Moon, providing spacecraft design, mission management, navigation, communications, and data services under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

Founded in 2013 by aerospace engineers Steve Altemus, Tim Crain and Kris Kimel, Intuitive Machines has grown from a small startup into one of the leading private entities pursuing lunar surface deliveries.

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