Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Planet Labs shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $38.80 (last $38.21) in a rally that gained roughly 10.9% on heavy volume.
• Several brokers (Needham, Cantor Fitzgerald, Wedbush) raised price targets to $40 and gave buy/outperform ratings, but the MarketBeat consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $29.61.
• The company missed EPS expectations (‑$0.48 vs. ‑$0.05) despite revenue beating at $86.82M (+41.1% YoY); Planet is still unprofitable with negative margins and a high debt‑to‑equity ratio, and insiders—including the CFO—have been net sellers recently.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.80 and last traded at $38.2110, with a volume of 7117596 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on PL shares. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC from $30.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.40 price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.61.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Up 10.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.03 and a beta of 1.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $27.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.88.

Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $86.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.17 million. Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 69.61% and a negative net margin of 80.22%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Planet Labs PBC will post -0.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Planet Labs PBC

In other news, CFO Ashley F. Johnson sold 200,000 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total transaction of $7,020,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,895,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,520,186.20. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vijaya Gadde sold 20,000 shares of Planet Labs PBC stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.77, for a total transaction of $535,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 250,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,697,024.13. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 492,249 shares of company stock valued at $15,500,339 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 17.53% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Planet Labs PBC

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 202,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 63,088 shares in the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Planet Labs PBC in the third quarter valued at about $13,564,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Planet Labs PBC by 74.1% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 2,002,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,988,000 after buying an additional 851,937 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Planet Labs PBC in the third quarter valued at about $2,688,000. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Planet Labs PBC in the third quarter valued at about $4,392,000. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Planet Labs PBC Company Profile

Planet Labs PBC is a public benefit corporation that operates one of the largest fleets of Earth-imaging satellites, providing high-frequency, high-resolution imagery and data analytics to a broad range of industries. The company's multi-spectral satellite constellation captures daily snapshots of the planet, enabling clients to monitor changes in agriculture, forestry, urban development, energy infrastructure and environmental conditions. Planet's imagery platform is designed to support timely decision-making by transforming raw satellite data into actionable insights for business and government users.

Founded in 2010 by former NASA scientists Will Marshall, Robbie Schingler and Chris Boshuizen, Planet Labs grew from a small startup into a key provider in the satellite imaging sector.

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