ASTS

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX), a rocket launches and satellite broadband services provider, closed at $159.31, up 7.79%. Wednesday's gains followed stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, and investors are now watching compute growth and Starlink demand. Trading volume reached 217.4M shares, coming in about 123% above its three-month average of 97.3M shares. Space Exploration Technologies IPO'd in 2026 and has fallen 1% since going public. The S&P 500 rose 0.59% to 7,757, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.05% to 26,703. Among aerospace & defense peers, Rocket Lab closed at $53.67, up 5.44%, while AST SpaceMobile ended at $40.90, down 0.56%, as investors tracked launch and satellite-comms momentum. SpaceX stock surged following its strong third-quarter report, but considering its performance, the increase may make sense. Indeed, Q3 revenue rose by 161% yearly to $14.6 billion. Most of this came from AI-related revenue gains, which CEO Elon Musk refers to as "super intelligence." That segment reported 830% yearly revenue growth! With that gain, it turned profitable, reporting a quarterly net income of $4.4 billion. That was well above the nearly $1.1 billion loss in the year-ago quarter. Nonetheless, it is revenue projections that may have gained investor attention. Musk forecasted that annual revenue could reach between $500 billion and $1 trillion in 2027. However, CFO Bret Johnsen was more cautious, projecting a more modest $33 billion to $37 billion in Q1 2027. Historically, Musk has not always delivered on such projections, at least on a shorter time frame. Nonetheless, it may hint at his goals for SpaceX. Moreover, he again hinted at a possible merger with Tesla. Since Tesla's Roadster used SpaceX's technology to fly, investors are likely not surprised by this news. Finally, rising revenues have also reduced its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio to 68. Still, given the pace of its revenue growth and the company's long-term ambitions, one can understand why an investor might pay that multiple for the space stock. Before you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Space Exploration Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $370,440!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,330,110!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 924% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of October 21, 2026. Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock Market Today, Oct. 21: Space Exploration Technologies Surges on Q3 Earnings Beat was originally published by The Motley Fool

Investing.com-- Global space technology stocks rose on Wednesday, tracking a premarket rally in SpaceX Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX) after the U.S. rocket firm clocked bumper third-quarter earnings. Still guessing which stocks will beat the market? Our AI portfolio updates monthly and is outperforming the S&P 500 by 118%. See this month's list » EchoStar jumped nearly 5% in premarket trading by 06:43 ET (10:43 GMT), while AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab gained more than 2% each. Intuitive Machines rose around 3%, while Planet Labs added 1.6%. In Europe, Eutelsat surged nearly 8%, and OHB SE jumped 6.9%. SES DRC added 2.2%. The moves followed gains in Asian space stocks, with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7011) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp (TYO:6503), which are closely tied to Japan's space program, rising 1% and 1.9%, respectively, while rocket engine component maker IHI Corp. (TYO:7013) rose 1.3%. Satellite maker SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (TYO:9412) rose 2.6%, while space tech startup Astroscale Holdings Inc (TYO:186A) jumped 5.7%. Japanese space stocks were also encouraged by the country launching a high-profile mission to a moon of Mars. In South Korea, Hanwha Aerospace Co Ltd (KS:012450) and Hanwha Systems Co Ltd (KS:272210) rose 1.9% and 5.2%, respectively. SpaceX supplier Shenzhen Sunway Communication (SZ:300136) rose 1.2%. Unsure what to buy ahead of earnings? Our AI's recent pre-earnings calls delivered gains of +77% to +118% after results dropped. See this month's earnings picks » The group tracked an aftermarket rally in SpaceX, with the rockets and artificial intelligence company adding nearly 10% after its third-quarter earnings handily beat estimates. SpaceX posted its first-ever quarterly profit as a public company. The print was fueled chiefly by SpaceX's AI and Starlink satellite communications unit. Starlink is by far SpaceX's biggest profit earner, with the rocket maker outlining plans to aggressively ramp up its U.S. and global satellite communications offerings. A rapid expansion in satellite demand bodes well for components and communication equipment makers such as SKY Perfect, China Satellite Communications, and Sunway. SpaceX's earnings also helped improve sentiment towards broader space stocks by showing how the sector's largest company could turn growth into profit. Following the report, Citi opened a 90-day positive catalyst watch on SpaceX shares, citing six factors: a track record of beats and raises expected to continue into the fourth quarter, Flight 15 as a potential major space-industry catalyst for reusability, dollar-per-watt economics trending above consensus, an accelerating Grok model release cadence, and possible year-end detail on SpaceX's power-generation and mobile strategies. "We've described Buy-rated SPCX as being in the midst of a catalyst-rich 2-3 year arc and we see the next 2-3 months in particular as uniquely catalyst rich even within that timeline that supports our positive investment thesis," Citi analysts said. Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this report. Original Article Global space stocks rally tracking blowout SpaceX Q3 earnings European shares rise on earnings support; Big Tech results awaited Global chip stocks rally as Super Micro forecast revives AI demand optimism

Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX), better known as SpaceX, a reusable rocket launch and satellite broadband services provider, closed at $147.79, down 0.11%, on Oct. 20. However, shares rebounded to $155.40, up 5.15%, in early after-hours trading as investors weighed an after-close Q3 report. Trading volume reached 89.4 million shares, coming in nearly 5.5% below its three-month average of 94.5 million shares. SpaceX IPO'd in 2026 and has fallen 8% since going public. S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) closed at 7,713, up 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) finished at 26,425, down 0.02%. Among aerospace and defense space rivals, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) closed at $50.90, down 0.90%, and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) closed at $41.13, down 1.77%, as satellite broadband and launch names tracked company-specific earnings and spectrum headlines. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, investors were focused on SpaceX's after-close Q3 report, with options trading earlier in the day implying an 8% swing with attention centered on $170 calls and $140 puts. The company announced earnings after the closing bell, delivering 161% year-over-year revenue growth to $14.6 billion in the third quarter. SpaceX also notched its first revenue-generating Starship mission in Q3. Last week, it executed a successful classified national-security launch for the U.S. Space Force, reinforcing the company's launch cadence and government demand. This supports the valuation case for its launch business. In its Super Intelligence division, where SpaceX seeks to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom, the company produced sales of $7.6 billion, a substantial increase from the prior year's $813 million. Moreover, the AI segment produced a profit in Q3 with operating income of $431 million. Not only is this an enormous improvement from 2025's loss from operations of $1.7 billion, it's also a dramatic turnaround from Q2's loss of $1.3 billion. The outstanding result demonstrates SpaceX's ability to grow AI operations profitably, which is critical since the company believes this area possesses its biggest market potential, calling it a $27 trillion opportunity. Before you buy stock in Space Exploration Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Space Exploration Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $376,696!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,333,920!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 925% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 212% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of October 20, 2026. Robert Izquierdo has positions in Rocket Lab and Space Exploration Technologies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Stock Market Today, Oct. 20: SpaceX Stock Gains After Market Close on Q3 Earnings Report was originally published by The Motley Fool

- Chip and semiconductor stocks extend the decline after industry leaders' warning on AI spending sparks rout in South Korea's KOSPI. - All eyes on big bank earnings today as JPM, GS, C, WFC gear up to report before the bell today. - Michael Burry has flagged that the market could be setting up for a "bull trap" and added that he is holding back from adding any fresh bearish positions at current levels. U.S. stock futures were mixed early Tuesday as Wall Street financial institutions officially kick off the third-quarter earnings season and traders digested turbulence in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor stocks. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC), along with UnitedHealth and J&J, report before the bell today. As of 4:00 a.m. ET, Nasdaq futures fell 0.6%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.1%, while Dow futures rose 0.6% and Russell 2000 futures gained 0.5%. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 Index, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index, remained 'bullish'. Noted investor Michael Burry flagged that the market could be setting up for a "bull trap" and added that he is holding back from adding any fresh bearish positions at current levels. Memory (MU, TSM, SKHY) and semiconductor stocks (NVDA, INTC, SNDK, AMD) extended the selloff in early premarket trading after capital-expenditure warnings from industry leaders and emerging competition from China's CXMT. Broadcom (AVGO) CEO Hock Tan cautioned that access to capital could become a bigger bottleneck for AI infrastructure compared to chip or power availability. Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan also raised questions recently about borrowing costs and the return on AI investments. In Korea, Samsung and SK Hynix dragged the KOSPI down over 6% on Tuesday. The Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU ETF) cracked over 10% in early U.S. premarket trade. Nvidia (NVDA): Reports citing IDC data show Nvidia's share of China's data-center AI chip market fell to 34% in the first half of 2026 as Huawei gained ground. Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS) shares rose over 1% in early premarket trade after the company unveiled a 24kW power delivery board developed with Nvidia to target improved efficiency in AI racks. Optical networking stocks (COHR, LITE, AAOI) continued to fall in early premarket trade amid concerns over AI funding. However, retail traders on Stocktwits remained bullish and saw the dip as a buying opportunity. Meta Platforms (META): Its Muse AI retention data and traction drew a "monster long" call from Jim Cramer, while Dan Ives continued to make a bullish case, citing its competitive AI edge. Apple (AAPL) remains on the retail radar after a Bank of America note flagged shorter wait times for iPhone 18 Pro delivery than last year. Investors are also watching iPhone Duo pre-orders, scheduled to open on Friday. Cerebras (CBRS) shares continued to decline in early premarket trading, hitting a new 52-week low amid concerns about its relationship with OpenAI and an upcoming lockup expiring Wednesday. SpaceX (SPCX) launched 27 Starlink broadband satellites late on Monday, its first such mission in over three weeks. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) remains on the retail radar even as an analyst flagged competitive risks from Starlink's spectrum ambitions. They said SpaceX could build a "massive" midband spectrum by combining Ligand, Viasat-related spectrum access, and licenses from a proposed FCC auction. Telecom stocks (TMUS, VZ): Analysts have said that fears from SpaceX's $8 billion spectrum deal to T-Mobile are 'overblown'. Morningstar added that while the Starlink deal does raise uncertainty for wireless carriers, it is unlikely to threaten their operations. Tesla (TSLA) will be showcasing its Cybercab robotaxi at the Paris Motor Show this week, along with an Optimus robot and free FSD test drives. UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is trending on Stocktwits ahead of earnings today, with options market pricing in a 6.5% elevated move and analysts flagging high implied volatility. Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) shares fell 13% in early premarket trade following news of a guest fatality on the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags in Georgia. Visa (V) shares rose over 1% in early premarket trading after China gave it the green light to begin preparing for a domestic bank-card clearing business, after years of regulatory hurdles. Other tickers trending on Stocktwits at the time of writing included Netflix (NFLX), Nuscale Power (SMR), Palantir (PLTR), and First Solar (FSLR). On the economic front, traders will tune in throughout the day for speeches from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, and Boston Fed President Susan Collins. Meanwhile, on Monday, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said that additional tightening may be required to return inflation to the Fed's 2% target. This comes ahead of key inflation data (September CPI on Wednesday and PPI on Thursday) and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech later in the week. Existing home sales data will be released at 10:00 am ET today. On the earnings front, watch out for JPMorgan Chase (JPM), UnitedHealth (UNH), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), among others, reporting today. For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com Preeti Ayyathurai has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits' news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits. Related: - ASST Stock Rises Overnight: Strive Launches IPO Of 15% SATS Preferred Stock To Fund Bitcoin Purchases - Microsoft Weighs 20% Cost Cuts In Azure Vertical Amid Soaring AI Data Center Spending: Report - LQDA Explodes After Hours On Deal Ending Years Of Patent Fight, Keeping YUTREPIA On Market

- The S&P 500 ended Friday 0.6% higher, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%. - President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to supply diesel to both the U.S. and global markets. - Elon Musk-led SpaceX announced a deal to buy a nationwide telecom spectrum. U.S. stock indices ended higher on Friday as technology stocks recovered from previous session losses and investors prepare for the start of earnings season next week, with big banks releasing their quarterly results. The S&P 500 ended Friday 0.6% higher, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%. The Russell 2000, which tracks small-cap stocks, ended 0.5% higher. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rose 0.5%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) added 0.8%, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.5%. Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) and the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) fell around 0.5%, tracking weakness in Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Intel (INTC) and Micron Tech (MU). The broader Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) rose 0.7%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for QQQ, SPY, and DIA was 'bullish' with 'high' message volumes. Index | Move | Close Dow Jones Industrial Average | 0.8% | 51,654.95 S&P 500 | 0.6% | 7,811.54 Nasdaq 100 | 0.5% | 30,883.15 Equity markets touched session highs after President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed to supply diesel through domestic and international channels. Crude prices—which settled slightly in the green, with West Texas Intermediate futures hovering near $92 per barrel and Brent crude futures topping $104—eased back in after-hours trading after the statement. SpaceX stock rose 1% after the Elon Musk-led aerospace giant disclosed an agreement to acquire nationwide spectrum assets. Conversely, shares of telecom heavyweights AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and T-Mobile (TMUS) retreated on concerns that the acquisition might intensify industry competition. Traders' focus would now shift to earnings season to judge if elevated interest rates translate to better interest margins for banks or affect overall credit growth, and if strong tech results would be enough to impress investors looking for more than an earnings beat along with an overall robust revenue and profit guidance for the upcoming quarter. "I believe corporate earnings remain remarkably strong," Bob Edwards at Edwards Asset Management told CNBC. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) announced Friday the launch of a specialized artificial intelligence system designed to execute rapid, automated decisions, marking a strategic pivot toward lower-cost, highly targeted AI tools for enterprise workflows. Shares of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) sold off Friday after SpaceX agreed to buy low-band spectrum the firm also wanted, even as CEO Abel Avellan said U.S. carrier partners already hold about 1,000 MHz that can be tuned to its satellites. Netflix Inc. (NFLX) is preparing to lay off about 5% of its global workforce as early as next week, according to a report by media newsletter Puck. Moderna (MRNA) shares jumped Friday, hitting a new 52-week high as the stock returned to the Nasdaq-100 and investors priced in a reported national push on cancer vaccines. Anterix (ATEX), NextNav (NN) and Gogo (GOGO) could benefit from rising demand for wireless spectrum following SpaceX's (SPCX) reported $8 billion acquisition of Grain Management's low-band frequencies, according to Roth Capital. For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com. Shashank Nayar has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits' news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits. Related: - Stocktwits Defense Watch: U.S. Missile Spending Drives $21B In Boeing, RTX Deals, Ondas Adds $270M In Orders - Stocktwits Biotech Dealmaker — Viatris And GE Healthcare Buy What They Can Sell; Biohaven And Alector Sell Rights - Stocktwits Zero To Sixty — Tesla Shanghai Exports Shine, Texas Cybercab Fleet Scales, And Lucid Built Fewer Cars Than It Sold

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS). Shares have lost about 7.7% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is AST SpaceMobile due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. ASTS Reports Wider-Than-Expected Q2 Loss Despite Revenue GrowthAST SpaceMobile reported lackluster second-quarter 2026 results, with both top and bottom lines missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.The company reported strong year-over-year revenue growth, driven by gateway deliveries and U.S. government contracts. It continued to expand satellite production and partnerships and advance its network deployment. However, higher operating and launch costs continued to weigh on its bottom line. Net IncomeOn a GAAP basis, the company recorded a net loss of $230.9 million or a loss of 77 cents per share compared with a net loss of $99.4 million or a loss of 41 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Despite healthy top-line growth, higher total operating expenses pressured the bottom line.Excluding non-recurring items, non-GAAP net loss for the reported quarter was 44 cents per share, which was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 28 cents.RevenuesQuarterly revenues surged to $31.5 million from $1.16 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by solid growth in both Product and Service segments. However, the top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $34.1 million.In the second quarter, Product revenues increased to $24.4 million from $0.05 million, primarily driven by the delivery of commercial gateway equipment to Mobile Network Operator partners. Services revenues also increased to $7.09 million from $1.11 million in the prior-year quarter, reflecting increased revenue recognized from U.S. government contracts and the achievement of related contractual milestones.Other DetailsIn the June quarter, total operating expenses rose to $329.1 million from $74 million in the year-ago quarter. This was due to increased general and administrative costs and engineering services expenses. Adjusted operating expenses for the second quarter were $119.1 million.Cash Flow & LiquidityDuring the first six months of 2026, the company utilized $145.2 million of cash for operating activities compared with a cash utilization of $72 million in the year-ago period. As of June 30, 2026, it had $2.29 billion in cash and cash equivalents with $2.96 billion in long-term debt. Since the earnings release, investors have witnessed a downward trend in estimates revision. The consensus estimate has shifted -54.51% due to these changes. At this time, AST SpaceMobile has a poor Growth Score of F, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Following the exact same course, the stock has a grade of F on the value side, putting it in the lowest quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, AST SpaceMobile has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. AST SpaceMobile belongs to the Zacks Wireless Equipment industry. Another stock from the same industry, InterDigital (IDCC), has gained 0.9% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. InterDigital reported revenues of $260.17 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -13.4%. EPS of $4.62 for the same period compares with $6.52 a year ago. For the current quarter, InterDigital is expected to post earnings of $2.04 per share, indicating a change of -20% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged over the last 30 days. InterDigital has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) based on the overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions. Additionally, the stock has a VGM Score of F. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS) : Free Stock Analysis Report InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in Planet Labs PBC? Here are five stocks we like better. 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. AST SpaceMobile Stock Soared 12%—This Was the Catalyst 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. → Boarding Call: EHang Secures First-Mover Altitude Could Falling Yields Make REIT Stocks Worth a Second Look? 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%. → Medtronic’s Stars Are Aligning for a Price Recovery Satellogic Is Tiny But Its Revenue Growth Is Hard to Ignore 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. → Dutch Bros Sell-Off Creates a Growth Opportunity 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Planet Labs PBC Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for September 2026.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET Investor Relations Manager - Maxwell Colbert Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Abel Avellan President - Scott Wisniewski Chief Financial Officer and Chief Legal Officer - Andy Johnson Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to AST SpaceMobile Second Quarter 2026 Business Update. Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to Max Colbert, Investor Relations Manager of AST SpaceMobile. Thank you. You may begin. Maxwell Colbert: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, I'm also joined by Chairman and CEO, Abel Avellan; President, Scott Wisniewski; and CFO and Chief Legal Officer, Andy Johnson. Let me refer you to Slide 2 of the presentation, which contains our safe harbor disclaimer. During today's call, we may make certain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements on this call. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the Risk Factors section of AST SpaceMobile's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2025, with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other documents filed by AST SpaceMobile with the SEC from time to time. Also, after our initial remarks, we'll be starting our Q&A section with questions submitted in advance by our shareholders. For those of you who may be new to our company and mission, there are nearly 6 billion mobile phones today around the world, but many of us still experience gaps in coverage as we live, work and travel. Additionally, there are billions of people without cellular broadband and who remain unconnected to the global economy. The markets we are pursuing in AST SpaceMobile are massive, and the problem we are solving is important and touches nearly all of us. In this backdrop, AST SpaceMobile is building the first and only global cellular broadband network in space to operate directly with everyday unmodified mobile phones, supported by our extensive IP and patent portfolio. It is now my pleasure to pass this over to Chairman and CEO, Abel Avellan, who will go through our activities since our last public update. Abel Avellan: Thank you, Max. Our execution in 2026 continues to reinforce what we have believed since we created AST SpaceMobile and invented the space-based cellular broadband market. That combining differentiated technology, deep partnership with leading mobile network operators and a scale vertical integration position us to define the future of direct-to-device cellular broadband. Our space-based direct-to-device network will be the first of its kind to leverage low-band and mid-band spectrum with broadband speeds and native cellular application, combining a feature set and technology stack that puts us in a category of one. From the beginning, we designed our network architecture alongside existing mobile network operators, not as a replacement of them. Rather than requiring operators to rebuild their infrastructure, our architecture and technology extend and complement their existing terrestrial network into space, allowing us to integrate efficiently while evolving alongside future 3GPP standards. To put this concept simply, we are building the direct-to-device network of the future today in partnership with not in competition with mobile network operators. This new layer of connectivity that we are creating is not just for addressing gaps in terrestrial network but is to create a seamless connectivity experience wherever you live, work and travel anywhere on the planet. Spectrum is another area where we believe we have significant competitive advantage. Through a combination of low-band spectrum contributed by our MNO partners and the spectrum we directly control, we are building access to the broadest spectrum portfolio in the industry with satellite technology capable of tuning approximately 1,150 megahertz for low-band and mid-band and in the future, C-band tunable spectrum globally. In the United States alone, we are on the path to approximately 100 megahertz of spectrum from a combination of MNO partner provided spectrum and our own access spectrum, which will be a lead that is difficult for others to match. In particular, we're combining our over 3,900 patents and patent pending claims intellectual property and very large phased arrays with our spectrum access. This provides greater network capacity, better coverage and significant flexibility as demands grow. We are confident that our comprehensive spectrum strategy is the winning one, giving us the tech needed to increase subscriber capacity and bring services to target market with our partner MNOs. Direct-to-device cellular broadband is establishing itself as a new additional connectivity layer. Our differentiated in-orbit technology and scaled direct-to-device cellular broadband network serves as a resilient and reliable source of an additional and new connectivity layer serving commercial MNO partners and government agencies alike. Incremental to delivering direct-to-device cellular broadband connectivity, our total addressable market is rapidly expanding. We see several growth opportunities across government communications and noncommunications opportunities, including radar, emergency response, Internet of Things, AI edge compute and other advanced connectivity solutions. We see these markets as beneficiaries of our space-based direct-to-device network. We recently received an award pending government approvals and final agreements with long-time partner, Rakuten, regarding the selection for participation in the low Earth Orbit Satellite Infrastructure Development Project or J-LEO in Japan, designing to address the Japanese and Asian markets with a total expected value of up to approximately USD 1 billion in non-dilutive, non-debt government capital. This follows continued work with FirstNet emergency, the First Responder Network in the United States with partner AT&T and recent announcement with multiple governments through partners like Vodafone and Rakuten. Our partner-first strategy positions us as the partner of choice for direct-to-device cellular broadband among mobile network operators. Our commercial ecosystem is growing with over 60 MNO partners who cover over 3 billion subscribers globally, including key partners like AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Rakuten, STC Group, Bell Canada and Telus. We are on the cusp of commercial deployment, and we prepare to scale our SpaceMobile service to everyday modified smartphones. With 13 spacecrafts in orbit and approximately 20,000 square feet of combined aperture hardware and approximately 50 gateways globally that are in various stages of completion, installation and planning, we prepare for beta service with key MNO partners in selected markets globally. In the United States, we have deployed over 3,000 low-band cellular cells. We expect to deploy the remaining cells this year to light up the roughly 5,600 cellular cells that cover the United States. On network deployment, BlueBird 14 to 16 are undergoing final testing as their manufacturing assembly is nearly completed. The recent launch of BlueBird 11 to 13 demonstrates our ability to rapidly and repeatedly build, launch and deploy the largest phased array in low Earth orbit using advanced composite material for lighter and even bigger satellites. Our largest, newest, fully composite BlueBird satellites are operating as expected, and we prepare them for their communication and noncommunication missions for government and MNO applications. Our ASIC chip is now in full production, and we are expecting to nearly double the peak data speed of 98.9 megabits per second achieved using our on-orbit Block 1 BlueBird satellites. As a reminder, our ASIC is designed to support up to 10 gigahertz of processing bandwidth per satellite, which is nearly 10x improvement from our in-orbit Block 1 BlueBird satellite. Over time, we expect further gains of up to additional 10x improvement in user experience through AI-enabled spectrum management. Turning to manufacturing. We're in various stages of production and assembly through BlueBird 46, which is in line with the number of spacecrafts required for continuous coverage in key markets. A detailed cadence of our deployment plan is shown in the accompanying quarterly presentation found on our IR website. We continue to leverage our 95% vertically integrated manufacturing strategy to move at the pace and precision needed to scale a constellation of the largest satellites in LEO at a scale unprecedented in low Earth orbits. We currently have over 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and operations space globally, including our dedicated macro production facility to help accelerate satellite production as we ramp up into our target cadence of 6 fully assembled satellites per month. We recently unveiled plans for an additional 400,000 square feet of manufacturing and production space in Midland, Texas, and we prepare to further scale production for United States government and our extended TAM of commercial applications. We expect our global manufacturing and operations footprint will exceed 1 million square feet of manufacturing capability with over 900,000 square feet residing in the United States once completed. We are proud to be manufacturing the largest satellites in LEO here in the United States and in Texas, where bigger is better. In summary, AST SpaceMobile is executing across every critical dimension of our business. We have expanded our commercial partner ecosystem now with over 60 MNOs partners globally who collectively cover over 3 billion subscribers. Our comprehensive spectrum strategy continues to strengthen across our satellite technology capable of tuning to approximately 1,150 megahertz of tunable spectrum with shared MNO spectrum and control MNO spectrum, totaling approximately 100-megahertz access in the U.S. and over 60-megahertz access globally. As an early indicator of success from our expanding total addressable market of opportunities, we increased our revenue backlog to approximately $1.3 billion in aggregated contracted revenue, agreement with partners and contracts award with the U.S. government. These opportunities are supported by our robust balance sheet of more than $3.7 billion, making us well positioned to lead the commercialization of space-based cellular broadband and create a significant long-term value for our shareholders. And with that, I will hand it over to Scott. Scott Wisniewski: Thank you, Abel. Since our last investor update call, AST SpaceMobile has continued to make great progress in our commercialization efforts. I would like to take you through some of that progress across our MNO and government customers and put in context the business opportunity ahead of us, which only continues to increase at breathtaking speed. In the commercial ecosystem, we are viewed as the partner of choice for direct-to-device with mobile network operators, as evidenced by the ecosystem we have built with now over 60 MNO partners globally who collectively cover over 3 billion subscribers. Network deployment in key markets with strategic partners is well underway, and our challenge is how to balance deployment of our cellular broadband service into the next set of markets beyond the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. government. We are balancing this today with active engagement with more than 20 mobile network operators across over 50 country markets. We are developing these markets together with our partners with an increasingly scaled and programmatic effort with services that are designed to be turned on as BlueBirds come online. These efforts are going to manifest themselves not only in more market announcements with our partners, but also, importantly, progress in the delivery and setup of about 50 gateways across 20 markets. In fact, in Europe, you're already starting to see this infrastructure in action as we recently announced network integration and testing activities across several European countries with Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone Ukraine and Deutsche Telekom. Meanwhile, the regulatory backdrop also continues to support our commercialization efforts and provides a window into how we expect the business to develop. While the U.S. was an early leader on the regulatory front with full commercial service approvals delivered earlier this year, we are seeing good progress internationally in the U.K., Japan, Brazil and other countries. Meanwhile, we have seen multiple countries provide commercial authorization to use our MSS spectrum assets, specifically in the S-band outside the United States. Altogether, these are strong signs of scaling our global cellular broadband network. More spectrum lanes of traffic for our network means more subscribers and better services when paired with our unique technology. Meanwhile, the U.S. government customer has been a major focus for us, and we see great progress this quarter, both in terms of revenue capture and building the backlog. We drove revenue against several existing contracts and received 3 new contract awards. Our U.S. government partners view our in-orbit technology as unique, strategic, innovative and flexible with communications and noncommunications capabilities. We have foreshadowed the trend of small development contracts becoming larger contracts ahead of still larger operationalization of the capabilities through programs of record. Today, you can see that trend as we are announcing 3 new contract awards with funded near-term value of over $100 million in total expected during 2026 and 2027. We plan to talk more about these awards publicly soon, but they represent near-term capabilities that have been in development with the U.S. Department of War for years and leverage our unique in-orbit technology to solve large strategic needs. In general, the backdrop in size of the Golden Dome opportunity, coupled with the Arsenal of Freedom initiative remains very strong for companies that have unique capabilities that can be deployed in the near term and can move fast. Now taking a step back, I want to take a moment to discuss the large addressable markets for the company beyond direct-to-device. We see the opportunity to leverage our unique platform that we have created to dramatically expand the company's total addressable market, leveraging our differentiated technology, deep intellectual property portfolio, vertically integrated manufacturing and, of course, the comprehensive spectrum strategy. In part, this is now possible because of the maturity of the business and our fortified balance sheet, utilizing the same spacecraft design and ground-based gateways that we're already scaling today. We believe each of these new additional end markets could ultimately become multibillion-dollar annual plus revenue opportunities for AST SpaceMobile. In the government and defense market, firstly, we've seen early traction around noncommunications, including radar. Our spacecraft are uniquely positioned to provide some of these services given the size of the array aperture, the frequencies we serve and our ability to deploy quickly a global capability for an order of magnitude lower cost than historically possible. This application is a majority of our U.S. government revenue to date. Secondly, and this will sound familiar, we have the ability to provide secure communications directly to low-profile, low-power devices. This means regular 3GPP devices, but also custom-designed handsets, existing radios, headsets, wearables and drones. This will be with a technology that is already showing broadband speeds of over 100 megabits per second to extremely low profile and sized devices. These applications will be new to the war fighter and greatly simplify and improve communications for them in the years to come. Each of these capabilities can be served with the same in-orbit network of AST SpaceMobile spacecraft, a combined capability that addresses the strategic needs of the U.S. government customer for decades to come. And apart from defense, we also see a few more funded comms opportunities. First, we are seeing a trend with large countries or regional bodies looking to replicate owned in-orbit resilient communications. This is born from a desire to have increased operational control of communications over their territory. Given the AST SpaceMobile architecture of landing traffic in country, we are uniquely positioned to serve this need and to add additional layers for this demand with the Japan J-LEO preliminary award falling into this category. Second, federal emergency and backup is another market taking shape, which you can see from our announcement with Vodafone Ireland, but it has been long planned both in the U.S. with FirstNet and in Japan. The 700-megahertz band, in particular, is viewed as a federal resiliency frequency and thus is an attractive match for our network. This capability could be used broadly for first responders and also as a large-scale backup during periods of network outage with Spain and Australia offering some notable recent outages that are driving political need for action. Thirdly, IoT or Internet of Things is an attractive market for cellular and satellite operators, which positions us well to provide a unified service across both broadband and narrowband applications. With our controlled MSS frequencies, combined with extremely low-cost devices, this is another attractive use of our existing in-orbit network. One final network I wanted to highlight today is space-based AI edge compute. As companies are starting to think about how to service this market in a big way, one of the key elements is the ability to deploy and control large structures in space, which is what we do. This is significant power to orbit at meaningful scale and with competitive cost. This provides clear cost and scale advantages for supplying power and compute in space. What you will see from us in the near term is stretching from a bent pipe network and building additional edge computing capabilities valuable to those networks. In total, all of these markets represent an expansion of our incredibly strong core direct-to-device total addressable market into new large markets, primarily on a funded basis, leveraging the incredible platform we have built. Closing out with a quick discussion on Q2 revenue. We achieved over $30 million in revenue during the quarter, more than doubling our Q1 revenue. This was driven by a combination of milestone achievements under our U.S. government contracts and commercial infrastructure for our mobile network operator partners. Our commercial and government efforts to date serve as important milestones in our road map to much larger opportunities, each with potentially billions of dollars in revenue per year as we scale our business. In Q2 specifically, we delivered against 13 gateways to 7 customers across 5 continents. And we remain confident in our ability to achieve our full year 2026 revenue goals and are reiterating our guidance of $150 million to $200 million, supported by contracted programs already underway together with our existing commercial and government pipeline. Altogether, we're very pleased with the progress we've made across the business. Commercial readiness continues to advance. Government demand continues to expand. Our deployment road map remains on track, and our operational capabilities continue to scale. These milestones reinforce our confidence as we prepare for commercial service and position AST SpaceMobile for meaningful long-term growth. I'm now happy to pass the call over to Andy to walk through our financial update. Andrew Johnson: Thanks, Scott, and good afternoon, everyone. During the second quarter of 2026, we maintained focus by further fortifying our capital position, executing on our commercial objectives, accelerating our manufacturing cadence, leveraging our growing footprint in Texas and beyond, and expanding our total addressable market or TAM for additional applications, including U.S. government secure communications and noncommunications, radar, emergency response, Internet of Things, AI edge compute and other advanced connectivity applications. Revenue in Q2 came in consistent with our internal plans. As I've previously noted, we expect revenue to build sequentially each quarter during 2026 with contributions from both commercial revenues, primarily gateway sales revenue and U.S. government contracts. I am pleased to confirm that we remain on track to meet our full year 2026 revenue guidance of $150 million to $200 million. With respect to manufacturing, BlueBirds 14 to 16 are ready to ship shortly, while BlueBird 17 through BlueBird 46 are in various stages of production and assembly as we continue scaling our production capabilities, building the largest phased arrays in low earth orbit. Our manufacturing progress positions us well to support our current network deployment plan, targeting approximately 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by early 2027. The strength of our balance sheet, further bolstered with last month's convertible debt offering, positions us not only to complete the full build-out and launch of a constellation of over 100 BlueBird satellites to provide worldwide SpaceMobile service and deploy our controlled spectrum bands on a global basis, but also to pursue an expanding universe of growth initiatives and secure additional access to orbit for our space-based cellular broadband network, including partnerships and/or acquisitions to further vertically integrate our business and mitigate risks associated with third-party launch providers. Our intentional focus on investing in the growth of our operations led to higher adjusted operating expenses in Q2 2026 as compared to Q1, consistent with our expectations as previously communicated during our first quarter of 2026 earnings call in May. Now moving to the operating and capital metrics slide. Let's review the key metrics for the second quarter in a bit more detail. On the first chart, for the second quarter of 2026, we incurred non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses of $119.1 million versus $91.2 million in the first quarter. Non-GAAP adjusted operating expenses exclude noncash operating costs and insurance proceeds in connection with our BlueBird 7 loss. The quarter-over-quarter increase of $27.9 million resulted primarily from an $11.9 million increase in adjusted cost of revenues due to higher revenue in the quarter, together with a $12.3 million increase in adjusted engineering service costs, a $3.1 million increase in adjusted general and administrative costs and a $600,000 increase in R&D costs. Our Q2 2026 adjusted operating expenses, excluding adjusted cost of revenues, were $95.9 million compared to $79.8 million in Q1 of 2026. This amount was near the high end of the $85 million to $95 million guidance for Q2 adjusted operating expenses that I previously provided. The primary drivers of the increase versus the prior quarter were growth in our workforce, including contractors and consultants, our expanded production facilities, other professional fees and critical investments relating to artificial intelligence. Turning towards the second chart on this slide. Our capital expenditure for the second quarter of 2026 was approximately $610 million versus approximately $257 million for the first quarter. This figure was made up primarily of payments made in connection with multiple launch contracts, capitalized direct materials and labor for our BlueBird satellites with the balance relating to facility and production equipment expenditures. This amount for the quarter was just below the midpoint of the guidance of $575 million to $650 million that I provided during our last earnings call, which assumed a significant launch payment in Q2 that was originally scheduled to be paid in the first quarter. For the third quarter of 2026, we estimate that our adjusted operating expenses, excluding adjusted cost of revenues will increase to the range of approximately $105 million to $115 million as we continue to absorb the full quarter of cost of our expanded workforce and continue growing talent across our organization to scale our efforts to address our expanding TAM as well as pursue the monetization of our L- and S-band spectrum usage rights. For the full year of 2026, we expect adjusted OpEx, excluding adjusted cost of revenues to average approximately $100 million per quarter or $400 million total for the year. Consistent with average quarterly CapEx spend during the first half of 2026, we expect our capital expenditures in Q3 of 2026 to be in the range of approximately $350 million to $425 million primarily driven by the timing of launch payments, which, as I previously explained and evidenced by the first half of this year do vary from quarter-to-quarter. Importantly, our continued spend on growth-related CapEx reflects our increasing satellite production and our active orbital launch plans. We continue to estimate that the average capital costs, including direct materials and launch costs for our constellation of over 90 BlueBird satellites will fall in the range of approximately $21 million to $23 million per satellite, excluding certain initial satellites that are used to validate performance and operations. Our cost-per-satellite estimates are subject to fluctuations based on dynamic geopolitical factors that could impact our costs. And as a reminder, changes in our adjusted operating expenses and capital expenditure, as I've just described, could be delayed or may not be realized due to a variety of factors. Turning to revenue. In the second quarter, we recognized revenue of $31.5 million, primarily driven by commercial gateway deliveries and various U.S. government service milestone achievements. Our revenue increased sequentially and year-over-year in the second quarter as we expected due to the timing of gateway deployment to our commercial customers and the timing of completion of certain government contract milestones. With respect to commercial revenue generation, we believe we can enable continuous SpaceMobile service across key markets such as the United States, Europe, Japan and other strategic markets with the launch and operation of approximately 45 to 60 BlueBird satellites and additional strategic worldwide markets with the launch and operation of approximately 9 BlueBird satellites. Further, as we continue to launch and deploy our constellation, we will continue to support U.S. government applications currently ongoing and accelerating as our constellation grows. As we reiterated in our Q1 2026 earnings call, we expect to generate full year 2026 revenue in the range of $150 million to $200 million. We manage the top line with a focus on full-year performance given the quarterly variability inherent to our business, including the timing of contract signings, equipment sales and milestone achievements. As a way to be helpful and for the avoidance of doubt, we expect revenue in each quarter to continue to grow sequentially but will likely be weighted towards the fourth quarter. As a result, we believe our revenue performance is best evaluated on a full year basis. We expect revenue to continue to be driven by gateway deliveries, achievement of contracted milestones for the U.S. government, MNO consulting services and with potential upside related to the recognition of initial commercial service revenue. The achievement of our revenue plan remains subject to several contingencies, including the successful launch and deployment of our BlueBird satellites related to U.S. government applications and those contractual milestone achievements. Critical gateway equipment sales to our MNO partners in support of their anticipated commercialization efforts of SpaceMobile service and service revenues in connection with the activation of our commercial service provided by our existing and planned deployed and operational satellites. Now turning to the balance sheet. With this backdrop, in July, we executed a convertible debt transaction for $1.15 billion aggregate principal amount of 1.625% convertible senior notes due in 2034. As part of the transaction, we purchased a capped call hedge to increase the effective conversion price to $149.20 per share, a price well above our all-time high trading price. This financing allows us to pursue an expanding universe of growth opportunities, further continue vertical integration efforts and secure additional access to orbit for our space-based cellular network. The notes have our lowest coupon ever at 1.625%, providing cost-efficient capital with effective dilution of less than 2%. Finally, on the final chart on this slide, on a pro forma basis, inclusive of that $1.15 billion in gross proceeds from the convertible notes offering, our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of June 30, 2026, was over $3.7 billion. In closing, we are making progress on all fronts in accomplishing our near-term objectives. The hard work across the organization continues with revenue building on plan for 2026 satellite manufacturing increasing to support our orbital launch campaign and increasing applications within our rapidly expanding TAM. We look forward to sharing additional achievements with you during Q3 and throughout the second half of 2026. Thank you for your continued support as we continue the hard work of connecting the unconnected at AST SpaceMobile. And with that, this completes the presentation component of our business update call, and I'll pass it back to Scott. Scott Wisniewski: Thank you, Andy. Before we go to the queue of analyst questions, I would like to address a few of the questions submitted by our investors. Operator, could you please start us off with the first question? Operator: David from New Jersey asks, how should investors think about the expected timing of meaningful government revenue? And could you expand some more on the radar capabilities of the constellation? Scott Wisniewski: Thank you, David. As we said in our remarks, we're making good progress on these contracts, including over $100 million of contract awards in the last couple of months. So consistent with how we've always talked about it, these are kind of initial phases as we scale up the opportunity, and the government wants to see you perform against that. And of course, we're really uniquely able to perform given the size of our satellite, our technology, the fact that we're in orbit, the fact that we're vertically integrated. And what we're seeing is that this opportunity is going to start scaling up into a recurring multibillion dollar a year opportunity starting in 2027. Operator: Lydon from New Zealand asked, how does ASTS' ownership of spectrum assets affect the company? Abel Avellan: Thank you, Lydon, for the question. Well, spectrum is like fuel for our business. But of course, also how efficient is the machine to utilize that fuel is super important. So it's the combination of the very large phased array supported by over 3,600 patent and patent pending claims, a very large phased array, the power of that phased array and access to MNO partner spectrum and our own spectrum, is what makes that fuel really be very efficient, the power in terms of creating additional lines of revenue to our government. As Scott presented in our brief today, I mean, this is allowing us to actually scale up into a multitude of new applications that create a multiplication of our TAM, our current TAM from D2D to 7 more new applications that really multiply the addressable TAM that we have today. So ownership of spectrum is super strategic for us. We were the first company in direct-to-device that started this trend of direct-to-device operators to own spectrum. But we had the largest combined spectrum access when you combine our MNO partners spectrum plus our own spectrum in addition to a very large phased array with a lot of power that creates that fuel that creates multiple lines of capabilities for our company. Operator: Kevin from Vancouver asked, what kind of demand drivers are you seeing to trigger the massive 400,000 square feet of manufacturing expansion in Texas? How many BlueBirds per month are you aiming to produce? Abel Avellan: Well, we're currently getting to 6 per month. We want to expand that in order to be able to supply enough capacity for our government and nongovernment applications. So with the additional 400,000 square feet of manufacturing, we would be close to 1 million square feet of manufacturing facility. We want to continue expanding our capability of producing them to even larger satellites that allow us to support communications, radar, GPS, AI, cloud computing, IoT and other very strategic applications that we have. And that's why we are investing very efficiently in extending our capability of manufacturing in Texas to close to 1 million square feet of manufacturing. Operator: Lydon from New Zealand asks, does ASTS believe other countries will come forward with their own FirstNet or J-LEO programs that ASTS can support? Scott Wisniewski: Thank you, Lydon. Yes, we see the J-LEO project as a real proof point for how countries, large countries are thinking about their own infrastructure. This is infrastructure they can control and get access to. And we think that -- and we see others thinking about it. So this is a trend that's going to play out, we think, multiple times in the coming years. And this is really a new layer of communication that gives governments and nations access to capabilities that they access and can control. And in particular, the 700-megahertz band is one that we've put on the satellite in order to be able to address opportunities like this, both in the U.S. and Europe and in other places like Latin America as well. And with that, I'd like to thank our shareholders for submitting those questions. Operator let's open up the call to analyst questions now. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Greg Pendy with Clear Street. Gregory Pendy: Can you kind of share with us on the Rakuten JV? I know it's in advanced discussions. But what stood out to get you guys to this stage, given it was pretty competitive with some other bidders out there. What do you think you offer to the table that really kind of moved you guys along in that process? Abel Avellan: Thank you, Greg, for the question. Well, we are the only platform that has demonstrated and is delivering today broadband capability. That is one key factor. The other one is the architecture that we offer allow nations and regulatory bodies to basically keep all the data and all the management of the infrastructure on the ground. And third, the partnership with Rakuten over many years that we have with them as a leading Japanese company that have been partnered with us for many years. So -- but fundamentally, we have the only platform that can deliver broadband that is in operation and that has demonstrated the ability to basically deliver seamless connectivity between terrestrial and space on a scalable basis. Gregory Pendy: Great. That's very helpful. And is there any way you can kind of give us an idea -- I know you don't break it out, so if you don't want to do that. But the backlog growing nicely to $1.3 billion, how much of that might be government? Scott Wisniewski: I would say it's -- a minority of it is government. The adds were primarily government, but the overall backlog, a minority of it is government. But I would say that we expect that one to scale in the near term most significantly. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Mike Crawford with B. Riley Securities. Michael Crawford: Of these first 46 BlueBirds that you have under partial stage of construction now, how many of these are already have or are targeted to have L-band or S-band connectivity installed on the Microns? And then how should we think of the spectrum mix of a full 90 satellite constellation? Abel Avellan: Mike, I mean, we are producing roughly at a rate of 6 per month in terms of Microns. We are on Micron 46. We're starting the production of the mid-band capability later this year for start launching very early in '27, the urban capability. So the current Microns are low-band systems. Michael Crawford: And then my second question is, how does this potential U.S. MNO joint venture affect your discrete agreements with AT&T and Verizon and as well as with T-Mobile that you don't have an agreement with? Scott Wisniewski: Thanks, Mike. Well, our existing agreements are not affected. And frankly, as we said when this was announced, the joint venture, frankly, frees up a third and fourth customer for us in the United States. So we were happy and supportive of it. Ultimately, we are carrier agnostic, right? Our network is good for all operators. We have strong partners, and those partners are important to us. But as markets grow and mature, we expect to be available to all operators. So this is really consistent with the strategy we put forward 2 years ago when Verizon joined with AT&T to support us. And going forward with the joint venture, we look forward to partnering with them as well. But existing agreements and the lead we have in the market for delivering cellular broadband, that's unaffected. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Colin Canfield with Cantor Fitzgerald. Colin Canfield: As we put into the building blocks on revenue for '27, just rough numbers here. It seems like there's probably $100 million to $200 million of gateway support, $100 million to $200 million of government -- U.S. government support and maybe $100 million of international government support. As we think about the upside to that framework, can you just maybe refresh investors on how to think about rev rec for commercial service? And essentially, what are you hearing from commercial operators about pushing revenue or allowing AST to recognize revenue with a partial deployment of Constellation? Scott Wisniewski: Colin, so I mean, first of all, what we're hearing from operators that they want the service now. And so we are pushing extremely hard. You've seen our comments on beta, getting that out the door to demonstrate scaled capabilities and then start rolling out commercial service with as little as 45 satellites in orbit. So we're racing towards that with our strategic partners, really as many partners as we can simultaneously race towards that with. And yes, rev rec will begin. I don't want to commit to anything, but generally speaking, revenue recognition should begin for commercial service when commercial service begins, right? So when that happens next year, that will start being recognized. And the other components of revenue, I would say you're generally accurate. That gateway is in excess of $100 million as we continue to grow that. Government revenue, we hope, will greatly exceed your number, but that's still being played out now, and we'll have more announcements in the near term on that. And commercial services revenue, of course, is what we're all playing for, and we're very excited and expect that to ramp quickly once we get going. Colin Canfield: Got it. Got it. And then for the international government opportunities, if you can just maybe talk about the market structure that you expect in Germany as well as the rest of Europe. Maybe how do you think about kind of customer appetite to multisource supply chains? And if they're not multi-sourcing, what sort of milestones do you think it takes for them to kind of secure their supply chain? And specifically, we're talking about IRIS. Scott Wisniewski: Well, I think Colin, there is a lot there, of course, because there's a lot of different markets. But what we can do in the defense market, which is comms and noncommunication services with a very unique technology in orbit is attractive to a lot of parties. And we see the trend playing out in other sectors that are perhaps less strategic capabilities where international governments are placing bets around services. And we think over time, those governments will turn their attention to larger scaled services like what we can do because having that capability is a very powerful thing. And you see that, obviously, with the J-LEO preliminary award. So I would say this is a trend to watch for us over time. I won't speak to individual markets, but certainly, Europe and NATO and you can see how it's playing out through the MSS process in Europe with them prioritizing certain types of providers who have European operations, et cetera. So those are all trends we're positioning ourselves around. And it starts with our tech, but also, it's very important, as Abel said, that we have good partners like with Rakuten in Japan and Vodafone in Europe, and that really facilitates our access to the opportunities in a way you don't see elsewhere. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Michael Funk with Bank of America. Michael Funk: So first, ex Blue Origin, how many launches do you have contracted for the remainder of 2026 and 2027? And what is the stack ability on those vehicles? Scott Wisniewski: We have 10 launches booked with 2 different providers, and we're targeting a cadence of every month or 2 on average. Beyond that, we've been providing disclosure about 2 months in advance as we get launch down-selected. I think with Blue Origin, I think we're all watching that. We were sad to see what happened in May, but they've made tremendous progress to date in both turning around the pad and getting resolution recently on the root cause for the anomaly. And so they're targeting this year. We're not betting on that necessarily. We'll be happy if they do it, but we're not betting on that in our numbers. And with a mix of launches, we think we can get to early 2027 for our initial 45 satellites. Michael Funk: That was great. And then on build cost per satellite, can you tell me where you are today and where you see that trending over the next 12 months? Andrew Johnson: Yes. Cost per satellite, Michael, is the question. Michael Funk: That's correct, yes. Andrew Johnson: We've been consistent now for several quarters that we are falling between $21 million and $23 million per satellite. And that includes launch, that includes our direct labor and so forth. And we track that each quarter and roll it up. So that's consistent. I think that, that is over the life of the constellation. So some of the initial satellites may exceed, but over time in our planning and so forth, that range holds up for the first constellation. And then we continue to look at ways to take cost out as we continue to engage with launch providers and acquire more launches, the economics scale better in that way. So over time, we'd hope to bring that cost down, but that's been consistent in that $21 million to $23 million range currently. And over the life of the 90 satellites, we feel good with that number. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Chris Schoell with UBS. Christopher Schoell: Great. You mentioned the expanding TAM, and you cited AI edge computing, federal emergency and IoT. Can you just help us better understand what needs to be done operationally to tap into some of these markets? And any rough sense on the time line there? And as you think about targeting these areas, how should we think about funding needs? Will you continue to be opportunistic? Or do you have much of what you need for the foreseeable future? Abel Avellan: Yes. Chris, I mean, all these opportunities are basically on the back of the architecture we have, which is basically fundamentally the largest capacity to generate power in space and the largest game, antenna gain per spacecraft. So basically, we are piggybacking in the space architecture we have and also on the gateway architecture we have. In AI compute, we are starting to add that capability into our satellites. We mentioned that we're on satellite 46 in production now. We're starting to add the compute capability on satellite 47, 48, so later in the year, we integrate it to our system. IoT, radar, emergency and dedicated constellations or specialized constellations like the one in Japan, they are already part of the architecture and we have it. So these are incremental opportunities, basically taking advantage of what we have built on our intellectual property. Christopher Schoell: Great. If I can just fit in one more. You mentioned the path to 100 megahertz of spectrum in the U.S. and 60 megahertz globally. Can you just clarify how much you have access to today? And what are the alternatives you have for securing those additional airwaves to reach these levels? Abel Avellan: Yes. I mean we can tune our -- between low-band and mid-band, we had around close to 1,200 megahertz of capacity that we can tune our satellites. We can do this per country. And in addition to that, also, we can tune our own and control MSS spectrum. So the 100 megahertz of spectrum is roughly what you see from our acquisition of spectrum through Ligado plus access to spectrum of our MNO partners here in the United States. Overseas is on a country-by-country basis. You know we had a joint venture in Europe with Vodafone. 21 of the top 25 operators in Europe have indicated they want to partner with us in accessing that capacity. So when we talk about spectrum, we're talking about the collection of our own spectrum and the spectrum that the MNOs make available to our satellites. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Louie DiPalma with William Blair. Louie Dipalma: On prior calls, you discussed the target for 2027 revenue to approach $1 billion. And given the different puts and takes and the backlog of $1.3 billion now, how should we think of modeling next year's revenue and beyond? Scott Wisniewski: Louie, so the principles there were based on a full year -- the first full year of commercial service. So we still -- nothing's changed on our expectation and our goal of reaching -- approaching $1 billion of revenue in our first year of commercial service. So next year, the way to think about it is still really strong opportunity in government that could contribute to probably as much as half of that. Still good infrastructure revenue like we have this year. And then as commercial service comes online, ramping into the balance of that. So we still feel really good about that number. It's just a question of when we kick it off and when we hit the run rate. Louie Dipalma: Great. And you discussed the beta trials. What is the timing in terms of when consumers will be able to trial your network? I know that you don't want to speak on behalf of your carrier partners, but have they given any sense on when the generic AT&T and Verizon customers will be able to test out the service? And related to that, if there are like 25 satellite in orbit from a general location in the United States, what percentage of the day will a satellite be overhead such that consumers will be able to connect to your network? Scott Wisniewski: Thanks, Louie. So getting the capability ready for consumers is something that we're targeting for later in 2026. How we go to market with that, how we use that, of course, like you said, we're going to defer to our partners and there'll be announcements on that in the right way. But we're very focused on enabling that. And there's a lot that you can do separate, apart from the space. So those 2 are kind of separate. And so while we've historically said 25 satellites is the right way to think about it, we have great flexibility there on how we do beta. So for us, it's all about racing forward towards putting satellites in the air and then racing towards getting a scaled beta available because, of course, the steps from a scaled beta to commercial service is pretty quick. It's just a function of satellites in orbit. And in terms of our -- about 25 satellites, like you said, that's -- there's a lot of variance there, but think about it as about half the day coverage. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Bryan Kraft with Deutsche Bank. Bryan Kraft: I guess I wanted to ask you just on the JV. How do you expect to work with the JV in the U.S.? Do you expect the 50-50 revenue share model to still be the revenue model for you with the JV? And separately, are you in talks with T-Mobile or Deutsche Telekom over partnerships given that you're conducting integration and testing with Deutsche Telekom? And obviously, they're the parent company of T-Mobile. Anything you could share on that would be great. Abel Avellan: Bryan, listen, we expect to be working with all operators in the United States and all major operators in Europe. We did announce 60 mobile operators around the globe with access to around 3 billion devices on a global basis. So as it relates specifically to the United States, we -- as Scott explained, we plan to keep the contracts that we have with our current partners the way they are and expanding the relationship into all of them, both through the JV and directly with each one of them. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Chris Quilty with Quilty Analytics. Christopher Quilty: We just finally got visibility on the upper C-band. And I was wondering, is that upper C-band kind of a reference design in your current ASIC? Or is that going to have to be Rev 2 when that spectrum becomes available at the end of the decade? Abel Avellan: Chris, no, we are working -- that C-band is already built into our ASIC architecture. And we're working on a third generation that will include both the L-band, MSS, mid-band and C-band. Christopher Quilty: So a question on the chip will be a single chip, but does it still -- do you still need to have different satellite designs because of the antenna requirements in order to support the multiple bands? Or is there a way to collapse that in the future? Abel Avellan: No, no, we're keeping different phased arrays per block of spectrum. So you have the low band, the mid-band and in the future, the C-band is also being incorporated to the satellites. Christopher Quilty: Got it. And a follow-up. You didn't answer David's question from earlier about the government radar applications. And maybe I'll just ask, is that -- are we talking active or passive applications? And is this using your spectrum or government spectrum? Abel Avellan: The radar application in United States is using government spectrum. And that takes advantage of our very large phased array and the sensitivity of the satellites, which is a capability that is already built and in orbit for the government. Christopher Quilty: And with that L-band spectrum already designed in? Abel Avellan: Our major application is for radar is in the lower bands. Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Scott Searle with ROTH Capital. Scott Searle: I wanted to follow up on the dedicated constellation front. The J-LEO opportunity seems very exciting. I'm wondering if you could address a little bit the architectural approach in terms of how much commonality and you can leverage existing infrastructure from gateways and otherwise as you build out that constellation. And as part of that, I think Japan has committed $1 billion in capital. What is the capital requirement from the AST standpoint? And then you've hinted at other opportunities globally. I'm wondering if you could provide some color in terms of other opportunities that are percolating either from a regional perspective or maybe the number of opportunities. Abel Avellan: Scott, the satellites flagged Japanese are basically identical than the rest of the constellation. And the way that this is planned is as they are flagged as Japanese satellites, they can be used anywhere in the world using the same architecture of gateways and the rest of the American constellation, the vast majority of the satellites. So these represent roughly half on the investment on those satellites in capital that is non-dilutive and non-debt for global usage of these satellites, but with a flag, a Japanese satellite for that subset of satellites. Scott Searle: Great. And any other opportunities that are percolating that you can address in terms of number of opportunities or potential time line for other similar types of dedicated sovereign constellations? Scott Wisniewski: Scott, yes, we don't want to comment on that, but there are other discussions with other parties. And frankly, if you think about it, having communications capabilities that are resilient and in your control, I don't know why a G20 country wouldn't want this kind of capability given the price. So I think that we see this as an attractive place for us to continue to build out our network and partner in the way that we've been very good at it. And you see this playing out a little bit, I think, in the earth observation arena. But as it relates to comms and our other capabilities, which is a much bigger opportunity and much more strategic, I think you're going to see a lot of this over time because I just don't understand why a major country wouldn't want this capability. Operator: And we have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to Max Colbert for closing remarks. Maxwell Colbert: Thank you, operator. We want to thank all of our shareholders and research analysts for joining the call. We really appreciate it, and have a great rest of your week. Operator: Thank you. And this concludes today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation. 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This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in Grocery Outlet Holding Corp.? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter results exceeded expectations: Net sales rose 1% to $1.19 billion, while comparable-store sales declined 0.3%, outperforming the company’s forecast. Traffic grew 1.8%, and adjusted EBITDA reached $65.7 million. Management is emphasizing opportunistic merchandise to improve the “Treasure Hunt” shopping experience; opportunistic sales and product mix both increased significantly, while promotional spending is expected to taper in the second half. Outlook remains tempered by a produce-related headwind: A Cyclospora outbreak is expected to reduce third-quarter comparable sales by roughly 100 basis points. Full-year guidance calls for comparable-store sales between down 0.5% and flat, adjusted EBITDA of $225 million to $235 million, and adjusted EPS of $0.50 to $0.55. AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) reported second-quarter results that exceeded its outlook as the retailer said efforts to strengthen its opportunistic assortment, sharpen value messaging and improve store execution gained traction. Net sales rose 1% year over year to $1.19 billion for the quarter ended July 4, 2026. Comparable-store sales declined 0.3%, an improvement of 70 basis points from the first quarter and better than the company’s projected 1.5% to 2% decline. The result included an estimated 50-basis-point headwind from the timing of Easter, according to Chief Financial Officer Ian Ferry. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat AI Cold War Catches Light: Federal Friction in the Server Rack Traffic increased 1.8% during the quarter, while average basket size declined 2.1%. However, basket performance improved by roughly 100 basis points sequentially as shoppers responded to an expanded selection of opportunistic merchandise, President and Chief Executive Officer Jason Potter said. Gross profit was flat at $360.7 million, while gross margin declined 30 basis points from a year earlier to 30.2%. The margin nevertheless exceeded Grocery Outlet’s guidance range of 29.8% to 30%. → AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be 3 Stocks That Prove the AI Trade Isn't Over, It Moved The year-over-year margin decline reflected promotions introduced earlier this year to reinforce the company’s value positioning, as well as markdowns and write-offs related to store closures. Better inventory management partially offset those pressures. On a sequential basis, gross margin increased 60 basis points from the first quarter due to reduced liquidation activity, lower promotional spending and seasonal factors. SG&A expenses increased less than 1% to $339.5 million and held steady at 28.5% of sales. Grocery Outlet also recorded $5.4 million in net restructuring charges associated with its store optimization plan. → First Solar’s Profit Engine Faces a New Policy Test in Washington Net income was $5.6 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, compared with $5 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, a year earlier. Adjusted net income fell to $20.3 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, from $22.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, last year. Adjusted EBITDA was $65.7 million, or 5.5% of sales, compared with $67.7 million, or 5.7% of sales, in the prior-year quarter. Ferry said adjusted EBITDA and adjusted earnings per share both exceeded the company’s outlook. Grocery Outlet ended the quarter with $74 million in cash, approximately $154 million of revolver availability and $505.6 million of total debt, net of issuance costs. Net leverage was 1.8 times adjusted EBITDA. Management said its central objective remains returning the business to sustainable comparable-sales growth through a stronger opportunistic product offering, which supports the company’s “Treasure Hunt” shopping experience. Potter said opportunistic comparable sales improved by more than 500 basis points from the start of the first quarter through the second quarter, while opportunistic mix expanded by more than 300 basis points. Grocery, the company’s largest category, posted a 3.5% comparable-sales gain in the second quarter, he said. The retailer is applying the same approach to its deli and frozen categories, where it has expanded the range of branded opportunistic products. Grocery Outlet also discontinued 400 to 500 made-to-order and private-label items during the first half to create additional space for opportunistic variety, Potter said. Paul Miller returned to the company in June as executive vice president and chief purchasing and merchandising officer. Potter said Miller, a 25-year Grocery Outlet veteran, is helping strengthen sourcing and supplier relationships. New supplier acquisition is up about 11% this year, according to Potter. The company plans to reduce promotional spending during the second half as opportunistic product availability improves. Grocery Outlet continues to expect about $20 million in incremental promotional investment for the full year, but said that spending should taper further in the back half and be largely complete by the end of the third quarter. “The customer doesn’t really understand the distinction between a promoted branded item or op,” Ferry said. “They just see deals.” Grocery Outlet closed 36 underperforming stores in April as part of its store optimization plan. The company said it remains on track to eliminate a $12 million annualized adjusted EBITDA drag, with most of the benefit expected in 2027. During the second quarter, the company opened 10 stores and closed 12. For the full year, it expects 30 to 33 net new store openings. Management said its 2027 openings will be weighted toward infill markets as it prioritizes returns, site selection and first-year store productivity. The retailer remains on track to complete approximately 100 store refreshes by year-end, though Potter said the company has adjusted the program to shorten disruption periods after seeing more variability than desired in recent refresh cohorts. Grocery Outlet also highlighted investments in operator support, including store-level customer feedback reporting, expanded field coaching and a dynamic-routing program designed to improve delivery quantities and opportunistic-product flow. The routing program is currently in about 200 stores and is expected to be deployed across the broader fleet over the next year. Despite raising the low end of several full-year outlook ranges after its second-quarter outperformance, Grocery Outlet said a multi-state Cyclospora outbreak is weighing on produce sales. The company said none of its products were involved in recalls, but it expects the outbreak to reduce third-quarter total comparable sales by roughly 100 basis points and to create elevated produce shrink. For the third quarter, Grocery Outlet expects comparable-store sales of negative 1% to flat, gross margin of 29.8% to 30%, adjusted EBITDA of $58 million to $61 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.14 to $0.16. For the full year, the company forecast net sales of $4.7 billion to $4.72 billion, comparable-store sales ranging from negative 0.5% to flat, adjusted EBITDA of $225 million to $235 million, and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.50 to $0.55. Capital expenditures, net of tenant improvement allowances, are expected to total $170 million. Potter said the company expects the Cyclospora-related impact to moderate in the fourth quarter and remains focused on restoring what management considers a healthier level of comparable sales over time. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) is a specialty discount retailer that offers consumers deeply discounted groceries by purchasing excess inventory, closeouts, and overstocks from manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, the company operates two primary banners—Grocery Outlet and Fresh2Go—with a combined footprint of more than 400 stores. Its product assortment spans fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery items, household staples, natural and organic offerings, and select specialty products, all sold at significant markdowns compared to conventional supermarkets. The company's unique buying model enables it to source inventory through opportunistic purchases of surplus freight, discontinued items, and closeout deals, which it then passes on as savings to its customers. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Grocery Outlet Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.