Planet Labs PBC Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Record Q2 performance: Planet Labs reported $116 million in revenue, up approximately 58% year over year, with a 59% non-GAAP gross margin and profitable adjusted EBITDA. Defense and intelligence revenue rose more than 90%, led by satellite-services execution.
• Growing government opportunity: Remaining performance obligations reached approximately $753 million, while management identified more than $4 billion in satellite-services opportunities, with over 25% considered near-term. New awards included an $8 million NGA contract and a potential €25 million German defense deal.
• Higher outlook, heavier investment: Planet raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $430 million–$441 million and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $3 million–$10 million, while planning $100 million–$115 million in capital expenditures for manufacturing expansion and next-generation Pelican and Owl satellite fleets.

Planet Labs PBC NYSE: PL reported record second-quarter revenue of $116 million, up approximately 58% from a year earlier, as satellite services execution and demand from defense and intelligence customers drove growth. The company also raised the low end of its full-year fiscal 2027 outlook for revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

Chief Executive Officer, Chairperson and Co-Founder Will Marshall said the company’s non-GAAP gross margin reached 59% during the quarter, exceeding expectations, while adjusted EBITDA was profitable. Planet also exceeded the “Rule of 40” metric for a fourth consecutive quarter, combining its revenue growth rate with adjusted EBITDA margin.

Satellite Services Drives Quarterly Outperformance

President and Chief Financial Officer Ashley Johnson said the company’s quarterly outperformance was primarily related to execution on satellite services contracts, including the handover of its first Pelican satellite for the Swedish Armed Forces. Planet launched the satellite in May, four months after signing the contract, and completed commissioning quickly enough for the handover to contribute point-in-time revenue in the second quarter.

Defense and intelligence revenue increased more than 90% year over year, including satellite services revenue. Commercial-sector revenue rose more than 15%, while civil government revenue grew more than 5%.

Regionally, Planet reported year-over-year revenue growth of approximately 3% in Latin America, more than 15% in Asia-Pacific, about 25% in North America and more than 130% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Johnson said the growth in international and defense revenue reflected the company’s delivery against satellite services backlog.

Point-in-time revenue represented 12% of second-quarter revenue, compared with 1% in the prior-year period. Johnson said this measure may vary from quarter to quarter as the company expands satellite services, because certain contracts are recognized when delivery milestones are completed.

Planet ended the quarter with approximately $753 million in remaining performance obligations, up about 9% year over year, and estimated backlog of roughly $815 million, up approximately 11%. About half of backlog applies to the next 12 months, according to the company.

Government Awards and Expanding Pipeline

Planet announced an $8 million contract with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to deploy its Global Monitoring Service in support of national-defense priorities. Marshall said the award followed a Defense Innovation Unit pilot supporting INDOPACOM and includes options to expand and extend the work.

The company also received a seven-figure, one-year agreement with a European defense and intelligence customer for high-resolution global mosaics and operational-planning support. In August, the German government announced a tender award for dedicated-capacity satellite services with a maximum possible value of €25 million over five years, including options.

Marshall said Planet has identified more than $4 billion of satellite-services opportunities, with more than 25% classified as near-term pipeline. In response to analyst questions, he defined near term as “quarters, not years,” and said the opportunity set spans EMEA, Asia-Pacific and North America. He also said the pipeline includes both smaller civil-government opportunities and larger transactions.

Outside defense, Planet signed a contract with the Rwanda Space Agency to provide national high-resolution data and analytics for government entities and public universities. The data will support applications including agriculture, urban management, spatial planning and disaster response. Marshall called it Planet’s first national program of its kind in Africa.

In the commercial market, Planet cited an expanded six-figure renewal with a hyperscale AI developer that uses Planet’s Pelican imagery to monitor construction of data centers and semiconductor manufacturing facilities. The company also detailed partnerships with FarmQA on AI-powered agricultural intelligence tools and Bragger Technologies on change detection and natural-resource management analytics.

AI, Fleet Investments and Manufacturing Expansion

Marshall said Planet’s AI application has progressed to open beta. The tool is designed to make the company’s archive of daily Earth imagery searchable using natural-language queries. He said the company is focused on learning from users before determining the product’s broader commercialization and go-to-market strategy.

Management emphasized the strategic value of Planet’s archive and daily imaging coverage. Marshall said the company’s Global Monitoring Service and maritime-domain-awareness capabilities rely on historical data to identify meaningful changes and patterns over time.

Planet launched a next-generation Pelican technology demonstration satellite in July. Marshall said the satellite met its major goals and supports the company’s path toward 30-centimeter-class imagery, though it is not intended to serve customers. The company also shipped its second Tanager hyperspectral satellite and 18 SuperDove satellites for a planned fall launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission.

The company is accelerating development of its planned Owl next-generation monitoring system, which is intended to improve imagery resolution from 3-meter to 1-meter class and reduce latency to as little as one hour in key areas. Marshall said the system is expected to deliver roughly 10 times more data about 10 times faster, potentially enabling higher-priced applications.

Planet is expanding manufacturing capacity in San Francisco and Berlin. Its German facility is expected to roughly double manufacturing capacity, with clean-room fit-out planned for September and initial production expected this year. The company also announced a launch partnership with Isar Aerospace for a Pelican mission planned next year.

Guidance Raised as Spending Increases

For the third quarter, Planet forecast revenue of $101 million to $105 million, representing approximately 27% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. The company expects non-GAAP gross margin of 56% to 58% and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $6 million to $1 million.

For fiscal 2027, Planet raised its revenue outlook to $430 million to $441 million, implying growth of 40% to 43%. It projected non-GAAP gross margin of 55% to 57% and adjusted EBITDA of $3 million to $10 million.

Capital expenditures are expected to total approximately $100 million to $115 million for the year, reflecting investments in manufacturing facilities, supply-chain resiliency and next-generation Pelican and Owl fleets. Johnson said the company is making advanced purchases of longer-lead-time items in response to demand and to maintain its ability to deliver satellites quickly.

Planet generated approximately $68 million in net cash from operating activities year to date and ended the quarter with about $865 million of cash equivalents and short-term investments. During the quarter, the company raised approximately $120 million through stock sales under its at-the-market program. Johnson said the capital was intended primarily to provide strategic balance-sheet flexibility while management seeks to minimize dilution.

About Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL)

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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