LUNR

Intuitive Machines, Inc. LUNR exited the second quarter of 2026 with a record $1.8 billion backlog after a sharp increase in awarded work. The central question is how quickly that contracted base can become reported revenues. That conversion matters because rapid top-line growth has not yet translated into consistent operating profitability. Contract timing, procurement activity and program execution will shape the balance of 2026. Second-quarter revenues jumped 309.8% year over year to $206.2 million. Even with that growth, revenues came in 5.9% below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $219 million. Gross margin improved to 17.4%, generating $35.9 million of gross profit. Still, operating loss widened to $47.1 million from $28.6 million a year earlier as selling, general and administrative expenses increased. Intuitive Machines booked $920 million of awards during the second quarter across commercial, civil and national security markets. The quarter included a contract worth more than $600 million for three commercial geostationary satellites, another lunar delivery award and national security spacecraft work. Competition for scaled spacecraft production is also expanding. Rocket Lab Corporation RKLB is pursuing national security and geostationary satellite programs, while MDA Space Ltd. MDA has expanded high-volume satellite manufacturing capacity and continues to execute constellation work. Management expects 25-30% of second-quarter backlog to convert to revenues in 2026 and another 35-40% in 2027. That schedule gives LUNR substantial visibility, but backlog does not automatically translate into near-term sales. Management indicated that contract definitization and procurement timing remain key variables. The company sees high visibility to the low end of its 2026 revenue range, while movement toward the middle depends partly on authority-to-proceed contracts becoming fully definitized. The second quarter included a $14.7 million estimate-at-completion adjustment on the IM-4 lunar mission to accommodate customer payload changes. The charge illustrates the earnings sensitivity of fixed-price lunar programs when mission requirements shift. Higher-margin contributions from the satellite business helped adjusted EBITDA improve year over year. Yet adjusted EBITDA remained negative $13.8 million, showing that better business mix can still be offset by lunar execution costs and elevated operating expenses. Intuitive Machines reaffirmed full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion and continued to expect positive adjusted EBITDA. Through the first six months, revenues totaled $392.9 million. Stronger second-half conversion is therefore central to the outlook. Management expects free cash flow to improve as investment levels stabilize and milestone receivables are collected, but the pace of revenue recognition remains tied to contract progress. The bottom line is that LUNR has more awarded work to execute, but the quality of 2026 results will depend on conversion, margins and cash generation. Further material program adjustments could dilute the operating leverage that a larger revenue base should provide. In the past six months, shares of LUNR have lost 20.2% compared with the industry’s 17.2% decline. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research LUNR currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 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 Intuitive Machines, Inc. (LUNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) : Free Stock Analysis Report MDA Space Ltd. (MDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) recently released one of its messier quarterly reports as a public company, missing revenue and earnings by significant percentages. Stifel responded by upgrading the stock. Shares of the company plunged as much as 13% on August 13 when it released second-quarter earnings indicating an adjusted loss of $0.29 per share, far exceeding the $0.09 loss analysts had predicted, resulting in a negative surprise of more than 200%. Revenue came in at $206.2 million, more than quadrupling from $50.3 million the previous year, but still  behind the $224 million consensus. Adjusted EBITDA was a $13.8 million loss, compared to forecasts of a $2.8 million profit. Despite the miss, Stifel upgraded Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) to Buy from Hold, and reduced its price objective to $26 from $32. The firm's argument relied on backlog: Intuitive's order book increased $707 million during the quarter, from $1.05 billion to $1.76 billion, up from $213.1 million at the end of 2025, with a book-to-bill ratio of 4.5x. More than $600 million of the increase came from three commercial geostationary satellite agreements, while a July deal covering 18 spacecraft for the Golden Dome missile-defense network highlighted the company's expansion beyond the lunar-lander missions that initially grabbed investor interest. The earnings miss was fairly specific and, according to Stifel, largely explainable. The EBITDA shortfall was caused by a negative estimate-at-completion adjustment on the IM-4 lunar lander program, an accounting catch-up representing higher estimated costs which is reportedly linked to a $14.7 million charge for mid-development payload revisions. Management remained firm on its guidance. Despite the setback, CEO Steve Altemus described the quarter as positive, highlighting revenue that was more than four times more than the previous year, exceptional bookings, and a backlog that positions the company for its next growth phase. In that vein, the company reiterated its full-year revenue range for 2026 of $900 million to $1 billion, as well as its expectation for positive adjusted EBITDA. Leading up to the announcement, institutional sentiment showed resilience. Hedge fund holdings increased from 28 in Q4 to 30 in Q1and 32 in Q2. Short interest, on the other hand, is at a high 25.46% of the float, indicating concern about execution and contract profitability. Intuitive Machines’ case rests on backlog beating this quarter’s loss for a young space infrastructure company. The 4.5x book-to-bill ratio and the significantly larger order book post-2025 are signs of rising demand. Meanwhile, the diversification into commercial satellites and the Golden Dome reduces dependence on only lunar lander missions. Reaffirmed guidance, along with Stifel’s view that the EBITDA shortfall was a discrete, explainable adjustment rather than a consistent problem, points to the core trend remaining intact. However, a considerable loss caused by cost overruns on IM-4 raises concerns about whether similar adjustments might come up when the company develops a much larger backlog. Despite a greatly increasing growth, revenue still fell short of expectations, indicating that bookings are exceeding the ability to turn them into recognized revenue on time. Moreover, a short interest rate of 25.46% indicates serious uncertainty that profitability and execution difficulties have been resolved, and transforming a massive backlog into consistent, profitable delivery is a different challenge than simply getting contracts. Investors should view this as a case of high demand colliding with uncertain execution. The backlog increase is strong and diverse, supporting Stifel's case, but the magnitude of this quarter's lapse means the next few quarters are more important than they normally would be. Current shareholders may be justified in staying the course given the order book and reaffirmed guidance, whereas new investors may want confirmation that IM-4's cost overrun was a one-time event instead of an early sign of broader margin pressure as the company works through a backlog  greater than a year ago. While we acknowledge the potential of LUNR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Aug. 20, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. ET Head of Investor Relations - Stephen Zhang Chief Executive Officer - Steve Altemus Chief Financial Officer - Pete McGrath Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Intuitive Machines Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Stephen Zhang, Head of Investor Relations. Go ahead. Stephen Zhang: Good morning. Welcome to the Intuitive Machines Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Chief Executive Officer, Steve Altemus; and Chief Financial Officer, Pete McGrath, are leading the call today. Before we begin, please note that some of the information discussed during today's call will consist of forward-looking statements setting forth our current expectations with respect to the future of our business, the economy and other events. The company's actual results could differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statements due to many factors. These factors are described under forward-looking statements in the company's earnings press release and the company's most recent 10-K and 10-Q filed with the SEC. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We also expect to discuss certain financial measures and information that are non-GAAP measures as defined in the applicable SEC rules and regulations. Reconciliations to the company's GAAP measures are included in the earnings release filed on Form 8-K. Finally, we posted an earnings call presentation to our website, which provides additional context on our operational and financial performance. You can find this presentation on our Investor Relations page at www.intuitivemachines.com/investors. Now I'll turn the call over to Steve Altemus. Stephen Altemus: Good morning, and thank you for joining us. We delivered a strong quarter, highlighted by $206 million of revenue, more than 4x the prior year, exited the quarter with approximately $1.8 billion of backlog and have positioned the company for the next phase of growth. Our backlog now spans civil, commercial and national security customers, and we have more than 80 spacecraft under contract. Based on that visibility, we are reaffirming and remain confident in our $900 million to $1 billion revenue outlook and our expectation for positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year. Two years ago, Intuitive Machines returned America to the moon for the first time since Apollo. Last year, we became the first company to land a second time at the Lunar South Pole. Those missions demonstrated our ability to deliver complex space missions that advance the state of lunar exploration. That was never our ultimate destination. It was the foundation for building the next-generation space prime, a fundamentally different company. Our strategy has evolved alongside the market. As our customers increase their presence across LEO, GEO, cis-lunar and deep space, their need is now for more than individual missions alone. We believe the next era of space will require a next-generation space prime capable of building spacecraft, connecting them through resilient networks and operating the resulting infrastructure across the space ecosystem. Over the past 18 months, every strategic decision we have made has been focused on building that next-generation space prime. The Lanteris acquisition transformed Intuitive Machines to one of the nation's leading satellite manufacturers, adding proven production capabilities. The KinetX acquisition added mission operations, flight dynamics, deep space precision navigation and satellite constellation management, allowing us to support customers throughout the operational lives of their missions. Our most recent acquisition of Goonhilly Earth Station and COMSAT expanded our ground segment communications infrastructure with globally recognized deep space ground systems that strengthen our ability to deliver resilient communications and navigation services from earth orbit to cis-lunar space and beyond. With these acquisitions, Intuitive Machines is an integrated aerospace company capable of building, connecting and operating a system of systems at space infrastructure. We believe that integration is becoming increasingly valuable as customers move beyond individual spacecraft toward complete operational systems. Combined with our existing leadership in lunar transportation and infrastructure, we believe these capabilities have expanded our addressable market from roughly $20 billion only a few years ago to well over $150 billion across civil, commercial and national security space sectors. As part of our strategy, we are investing today to establish capabilities that we believe will generate value over many years. This quarter, those investments include inventory purchases, production capacity increases and manufacturing efficiency initiatives. Customers are increasingly seeking greater production volume and faster delivery. Companies can no longer rely solely on the traditional model of waiting until a procurement or contract is awarded to begin preparing. Our investments position us to respond more quickly and deliver on our customers' time lines. NASA Moon Base is an example, an excellent example. While we begin by building and landing lunar delivery systems for NASA under the CLPS contract, we've since expanded our capability by providing communications and navigation systems for NASA and other government customers under the Near Space Network Services contract, and we continue to evolve towards production-ready landing systems and satellites in support of the rapid cadence of moon-based missions required. Across manufacturing, communications and mission operations, these investments support our objective of delivering and operating space infrastructure and expanding long-term durable operational revenue. The effect of these investments can be seen in the recent uptick in bookings this quarter. As of this call, Intuitive Machines generated $1.7 billion in bookings this year, including $1.2 billion in new bookings in quarter 2 through today. This marks the highest quarterly bookings in company history and validates our strategy by expanding the infrastructure base we are building for the future. Quarter 2 bookings also include partial awards with authority to proceed. We anticipate these ATPs will contribute an additional $300 million in bookings through the second half of the year as the contracts are fully definitized. Our diversification strategy and capability investments have expanded our total addressable market, moving us beyond a primarily NASA and civil lunar delivery company to one able to address the broader space ecosystem. This quarter's bookings reflect that diversification. Our $1.8 billion Q2 backlog is split approximately 37% civil space, 49% commercial space and 14% national security space. Q2 bookings through today were composed of approximately 20% civil, 50% commercial and 30% national security space, highlighting our continued diversification. As you've heard me talk about on previous earnings calls, our strategy is organized around 3 integrated pillars: build, connect and operate space infrastructure. Let me walk through each. The first pillar, build begins with the spacecraft and physical infrastructure that make our broader strategy possible. Today, we are applying our engineering and production discipline across lunar landers, government and commercial communication satellites, national security spacecraft, orbital transfer vehicles and deep space systems. Beginning with our civil portfolio, NASA continues to advance its long-term vision for sustained lunar exploration through the Moon Base initiative. Earlier this year, we were awarded the CT4 mission. And this quarter, NASA selected Intuitive Machines for the CS-8 mission, extending our lunar delivery cadence beyond 2028 into 2030. These awards represent our fifth and sixth missions under the CLPS contract. Looking ahead, we expect to compete for 4 additional CLPS task order opportunities this year, including the 10-year CLPS 2 multi-award follow-on contract. These opportunities represent far more than individual delivery missions. They reinforce the transition from demonstration missions toward higher cadence, repeatable and reliable lunar transportation supporting long-term operations on the moon. We also began work with NASA under our first contract supporting the reconfiguration of the Gateway power and propulsion element for NASA's flagship Mars mission, SR-1 Freedom. This program demonstrates how spacecraft developed for lunar exploration can be adapted for entirely new missions, in this case, a deep space Mars mission, extending the value of existing technologies while reducing development risk for future exploration architectures. At the same time, we continue operating the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera and ShadowCam programs. providing mission operations, data collection and lunar surface analysis. Next week, we'll fly over and image the impact area of a recently disposed upper stage on the surface of the moon. As lunar activity accelerates, we see significant opportunities to expand these capabilities through future lunar surveying, mapping and data repository services supporting NASA's Artemis program and Moon Base initiatives. Now moving to national security space. This quarter, we successfully delivered all 16 satellites supporting the SDA Tranche 1 tracking layer while continuing production on Tranche 2 tracking layer. Earlier this year, we expanded that production line with awards for the SDA Tranche 3 tracking layer, representing another 18 satellites. And as of this earnings call, we were awarded an additional 18 satellites supporting AMDT-3, part of the nation's Golden Dome architecture. In addition, we received ATP on an award for 2 restricted 300 Series spacecraft to an undisclosed customer. With these recent awards, we have more than 70 IM-300 spacecraft under contract today. This represents an unprecedented number of IM-300 Series spacecraft simultaneously in production. This month, we also received authority to proceed for continued development of our Nebula orbital transfer vehicle on a Phase 3 contract for a government customer. This award will take the OTV design from paper to full-scale spacecraft development, integration and testing all the way through flight. Collectively, these programs demonstrate our ability to manufacture spacecraft at production scale while supporting some of the nation's highest priority national security missions. In commercial space, we continue to see strong demand for our flight proven IM-1300 series platform. In quarter 2, we were awarded 3 geostationary communication satellites from an undisclosed customer valued at over $600 million over the next 30 months. SiriusXM-11 also launched and deployed during the quarter, and we are on track to hand that spacecraft over to the customer later this month, continuing the long heritage of one of the industry's most reliable commercial communication satellites. Beyond traditional communication satellites, we believe the same high-power spacecraft architecture positions us well for the emerging commercial orbital data center market. We are currently discussing strategic partnerships to bring our expertise and satellite production capability to this burgeoning market. The second pillar is Connect, linking spacecraft ground systems and users through resilient communications and navigation networks. As activity expands beyond earth orbit, communications, navigation and data transport become essential infrastructure rather than supporting capabilities. Through near space network services, our lunar data relay architecture, Goonhilly, COMSAT and our investments in resilient communication networks, we are building systems that connect spacecraft from earth orbit to cis-lunar space and ultimately to the lunar surface. These investments are designed to support many customers across many missions rather than a single contract. At the Lunar Frontier, Altus-1, our first lunar communications relay satellite remains in production and is scheduled to launch aboard IM's Mission 3 during the first quarter of 2027. As with any launch manifest, timing will reflect spacecraft readiness, launch vehicle availability and NASA stakeholder priorities. As part of the acceleration associated with Moon Base, development continues on Altus-2 through 5. We now plan to deploy these remaining 4 satellites together in 2028 to complete our lunar communications constellation ahead of schedule. On Earth, we continue enhancing the ground segment of our near space network, including installation of our first of several tri-band antenna feeds, starting with Catawissa, Pennsylvania and integrating the newly acquired Goonhilly, U.K., and COMSAT U.S. facilities into our network. These investments extend our ability to provide secure communications, navigation, timing and data relay services across earth, lunar, cis-lunar and deep space operations. The third pillar is operate. We believe the path toward durable recurring revenue is to not only develop and deliver systems, it is to then operate the infrastructure throughout its life cycle. Through KinetX, with our mission operations expertise, lunar navigation capabilities, communications infrastructure and future network operations, we are positioning Intuitive Machines to generate recurring operational revenue from the systems we deploy. Near Space Network Services, our operations supporting LROC and ShadowCam and the continued expansion of our communications architecture demonstrate that evolution. As additional infrastructure comes online, we expect to expand communications navigation, hosted payload mission operations and data services that deepen customer relationships and increase recurring revenue opportunities. Whether supporting NASA's evolving Moon Base, expanding national security space capabilities, enabling commercial communications or helping commercialize the next generation of space communications networks, each opportunity builds upon capabilities that already exist within the company. As we add missions, assets and customers, we strengthen the platform and expand the opportunity to provide long-duration services and revenue. We believe this transition from delivering hardware to operating infrastructure represents one of the largest value creation opportunities in the emerging space economy. Intuitive Machines is positioned to lead that transition because we now bring spacecraft manufacturing, communication networks, navigation expertise, mission operations and ground infrastructure together within one company. Our objective is not simply to win the next mission, it's to build, connect and operate the systems that enable the missions that follow. This is the next-generation space infrastructure prime we are building. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Pete for a review of our financial results. Peter McGrath: Thank you, Steve, and thanks to everyone joining us today. Q2 demonstrates how the business is changing as we scale across civil, commercial and national security markets. Year-over-year, we generated significant revenue growth, materially improved gross profit and adjusted EBITDA and added substantial backlog while continuing to invest ahead of customer demand. Those investments, which as Steve described, increased near-term cash usage, but they also strengthen our ability to execute the backlog we have already secured. We delivered $206 million in revenue for the quarter. That was driven primarily by execution across satellite manufacturing, CLPS missions, NSNS and OMES programs. Gross profit increased to $36 million in the quarter, up significantly from negative $12 million in the prior year. This improvement was driven by the growing contribution from our satellite business and the continued focus on cost and execution across our programs. SG&A was $60 million in the quarter, which includes approximately $11 million of share-based compensation, $8 million of acquisition-related transaction and integration costs, some additional headcount as we adjusted our growth initiatives as well as some timing on software license renewals in the quarter. Operational loss for the quarter was $47 million, driven by a higher SG&A, amortization and $14.7 million estimated at complete adjustment on the IM-4 to accommodate payload changes. Research and development was $8 million in the quarter. These investments are focused on upgrading our lunar landers, expanding our software-defined satellite architecture, increasing addressable market opportunities in GEO and system communications and supporting future high-margin infrastructure services. Q2 profitability continues to improve as adjusted EBITDA was negative $14 million compared to negative $25 million last year, driven primarily by higher margin contributions from Lanteris, partially offset by IM-4 EAC adjustments, SG&A and investment in R&D. Operating cash used was $60 million during the quarter. Operating cash reflected strategic investments in long-lead inventory to position for competitive awards, as Steve described earlier. Operating cash included approximately $17 million of accelerated inventory and infrastructure investment supporting awarded or anticipated programs, $8 million of acquisition and integration costs and $17 million associated with the IM-4 milestone payment to SpaceX. We believe the strategic investment in the quarter has strengthened our production readiness, supported recent awards and position us to convert our growing backlog into future revenue. Capital expenditures of $24 million was primarily for our NSNS satellite constellation and ground segment. Note that CapEx in the quarter includes not only our first NSNS satellite, but also upgrades to our ground segment and long lead material buys for satellites 2 through 5 as we look to accelerate the full constellation following our discussions with NASA. CapEx is expected to be at these elevated levels in the coming quarters as we continue to work on all 5 satellites. Taken together, these investments, along with timing of milestone payments received resulted in an $84 million of cash deployment during the quarter. While investments increased near-term cash usage, we believe it strengthened our ability to execute our record backlog, expand our long-term competitive position and accelerate recurring infrastructure services. Free cash flow is expected to improve throughout the second half of the year as investments stabilize and milestone receivables come in following our recent awards. We ended the quarter with $367 million in cash, which includes $235 million in net proceeds in the quarter from our at-the-market program. Total to date, we have raised $291 million gross at a VWAP of $26.81. Our current liquidity provides the capital necessary to fund current operations. Turning to growth and backlog. We exited the quarter with a record $1.8 billion in backlog, supported by $920 million in new bookings highlighted by 3 commercial GEO satellite awards, our sixth CLPS mission, CSA and 18 AMDT-3 Golden Dome satellites for L3Harris in support of their national security space customer. This backlog provides strong multi-year visibility and reflects increasing demand across both civil and national security markets. Approximately 25% to 30% of our Q2 backlog is expected to be revenue in 2026, 35% to 40% in 2027 and the remaining thereafter. Looking ahead, as Steve mentioned, we expect additional backlog growth from several large multiyear NASA and national security programs in the second half of the year, including the AMDT-3 Golden Dome award that was already booked in the third quarter. In addition, we have other ATPs with contracts pending, proposals submitted awaiting selection and expect to bid on 3 new CLPS awards later this year, along with other NASA Moon Base opportunities. As of August 6, our total share outstanding are 228.9 million with 173.2 million shares of Class A and 55.7 million shares of Class C. Moving on to guidance. We are reaffirming our full year revenue outlook of $900 million to $1 billion and continue to expect positive adjusted EBITDA for the year. Our $1.8 billion backlog provides substantial visibility into the remainder of '26. The primary variable determining where we land within the range is the timing of contract definitization and revenue conversion, not customer demand. On the profitability side, we continue to expect positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year. Our decision to reaffirm guidance reflects not only our confidence in execution, but also the benefits of a significantly more diverse business portfolio. This quarter demonstrates that Intuitive Machines is no longer dependent on a single market, customer or mission cadence for growth. We now have meaningful business across civil, commercial and national security space with $1.8 billion of backlog with a growing communication and mission operations infrastructure. Our focus for the second half is straightforward: execute the backlog, convert it into revenue while improving profitability and continue building recurring infrastructure revenue. We remain confident in our full year outlook. With that, operator, we are now ready for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from Griffin Boss from B. Riley Securities. Griffin Boss: So just off the bat, I wanted to touch on backlog. You just mentioned 25% to 30% expected to convert to revenue this year, and you've already added $300 million to the backlog in 3Q. So assuming maybe even just 5% or 10% of that extra $300 million is also converted this year, you're getting relatively close to the low end of the guidance. So I just kind of want to dig into what the major swing factor is to get up to the midpoint. Are there -- is it these programs that you're bidding on that you expect to come through in the second half that are going to have immediate impact? Or is it more so is the delta primarily additional ATPs on contracts already won that you expect to flow through over the remainder of the year? Stephen Altemus: Yes. So thank you, Griffin. I would say when I look at revenue conversion, you're right. We have a very strong visibility at the bottom end of the range. The opportunities to get to the middle of the range are a couple of things. One is timing of procurements and things as they come in. We see some acceleration of that, that gives us opportunities to move higher into the range. There's also those ATPs as we definitize them and the timing of that definitization will pull revenue into this year versus if they roll later, it would defer it to next year. So that's why we're keeping, I'd say, the wider range because we see opportunities at the low end all the way through that high end. Griffin Boss: Got it. And then just for my second -- or my follow-up, I wanted to dive into CLPS, the task orders that you're bidding on. What's the time line for bid submission of the remaining 4, I believe you said, CLPS task orders for the remainder of the year. Do you expect those to be multi-lander awards? Or are these 4 individual awards? And then also related, did you say that 1 of those 4 is expected to be an initial CLPS 2.0? Stephen Altemus: Yes, Griffin, Yes, we expect -- well, there's 2 awards -- or I'm sorry, task orders issued with draft RFPs that are coming on top of each other here for this summer, plus those are landed missions. The other mission coming out this year, a little bit later this summer, maybe early fall is the Orbiter surveyor to map the moon in replacement of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. And then there is this year, we expect the CLPS 2.0, which is estimated to be over $10 billion multi-award IDIQ. So that will be much like CLPS 1 that spans 10 years with probably an option for 5 more years, plus up about 4x from where CLPS 1 was to really get to the heavier cargo landers, and that will be multi-award. And then we think as we cross the new year into January time frame, there's the final award for CLPS 1.0, which will be a procurement called CLPS CP-32. So those are the -- what, 5 awards that we're -- or task orders that we're expecting and contracts we're expecting for the balance of the year and crossing into the new year. Operator: And your next question comes from Jonathan Siegmann from Stifel. Jonathan Siegmann: Congratulations on the backlog build and the order haul. Fantastic momentum there. Can you talk a little bit about what it means to have simultaneous satellite construction? Just how similar are some of these satellites? I know there's -- you can't share too many details on what you've won, but just what does that mean for margins building this many satellites all at once? Stephen Altemus: Yes. Jonathan, the 300 series satellite is a full-on production. You hear us talking about SDA tracking layer Tranche 1, 2 and 3. Those satellites full production line, spinning off those 300 series satellites for proliferated low earth orbit constellation. We have production line for the 1300 series geosynchronous satellites, communication satellites. You heard recently, we've launched and checked out EchoStar satellite. We've launched and are checking out the SiriusXM satellites. You see them coming in lesser numbers, but full production. And then we have a series of about 80 satellites under contract. The 300 series has the bulk in production. And then we have a series of one-off satellites. Those are our spacecraft. Those are our CLPS Mission landers, which we have Mission 3, 4, 5 and 6 to build. We have then what we call the Nebula orbital transfer vehicle, which is a one-off to start with the possibility of moving that spacecraft into production later with further orders. And then we have our satellites, which we're building 5 of those Altus satellites. So you see us production in the like 50 to 70, you see those that are a handful, 5 or so to 10 and then you see the one-offs that are like 1 to 5 satellites. And that is what the production kind of layout is across the company. Peter McGrath: Just to add one more thing to that. Steve mentioned the 300 class satellite. That's the one where we're producing 70 currently. The bulk of the non-recurring was retired with the first 16 satellites that were delivered to SDA for Tranche 1, and there's very high commonality across the BUS going forward. So that is truly more of a production run of a common satellite. So that's how we can put 70 through the factory at a given time. Jonathan Siegmann: And when we think about the capacity for additional orders, can you layer on more in the near term? Or do they get added to the back of the queue? Stephen Altemus: We have capacity and have been putting on additional capacity, not only here in Houston, where we're adding another 75,000 square feet of production space and manufacturing space to actually build the additional landers and satellites for the loop data relay constellation. And also, we have not yet tapped out the full 300 series production line. We have additional room to expand that throughput in that production as further orders come in. So with over 1 million square feet of manufacturing production space and office space in the company, we have ample room to grow still. Operator: And your next question comes from Andres Sheppard from Cantor Fitzgerald. Andres Sheppard-Slinger: Congratulations on the quarter. Very exciting to see the growing backlog. Steve, I wanted to maybe touch on IM since I don't think we've touched that on the Q&A. So just curious, what are the milestones left between now and the launch window? And how confident are we in that Q1 '27 launch window? Stephen Altemus: We are scheduled in the launch window January through March for Mission 3 of next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9. We still have -- we are in assembly integration and test. We are doing functional testing right now on the powered up spacecraft. We have engine hot fire once it's integrated into the vehicle to do, which is where we fire the LOX/methane engine on the lander to verify that all systems are functioning through an engine ignition. That's yet to come here in the coming month. We're finalizing with Mission 2 and the laser sensor challenges that we had there. We're finalizing the integrated suite of laser sensors, cameras, IMUs that get integrated on the vehicle for precision landing and hazard avoidance. Those are the technical tests that need to be done and proved correct and accurate before we go for launch. We've had our initial flight readiness review back in July, and we'll have a Delta flight readiness review to check out all status of all the systems in October, which will give us our green light ready to fly in the first quarter of 2027. So that's what's ahead of us, and we're really looking forward to that flight and a soft touchdown. Andres Sheppard-Slinger: Excellent. That's well said. And maybe just as a quick follow-up, I wanted to touch on LTVs. How are you thinking about the opportunities here? I think it's roughly about 10% or so of the total LTV contracts that have been awarded. So just how are you thinking about these? How are you positioned and perhaps any catalysts here that we can look forward to? Stephen Altemus: Yes. The LTV contract was a massive award to 3 vendors that could bid on that $4.5 billion worth of value over a period of about 10 years, I think, with a 5-year option. The very small initial awards were issued back in May, if you recall. And talking to Moon Base initiative folks at NASA, there's a lot more activity left to go on LTV as they build greater and greater capability, and we'll wait to see when those task orders come out, and we'll bid on those and move that forward. I think the long pole or the -- what's driving the actually slow pace of the LTV is the fact that there are no heavy cargo landers available to fly the larger LTV, which was what our primary bid was. So we're working heads down to build a heavier cargo variant of our Nova class lander that can accommodate LTV flights in the future. And that's part of the road map that NASA Moon Base is looking for in Phase 2, and that's where we're positioning ourselves. Operator: And your next question comes from Suji Desilva from ROTH Capital. Sujeeva De Silva: Congratulations on the strong backlog growth here. Just curious, I don't know if you talked, Pete, about the pipeline, but I mean, I'd imagine with all the backlog conversion, unclear what we have with the pipeline, but I'm sure there's a lot of opportunity ahead of you. Any quantification or understanding of the pipeline expansion here as well? Stephen Altemus: Yes, Suji, I did talk briefly about the CLPS opportunities with Griffin in the first question. We have 4 opportunities this year to bid on additional CLPS missions. Recently, there was a call in addition in our communications and networking area, there was a call for commercialization of a portion of the tracking data relay satellite service network, TDRS. We bid on the TDRS replacement. That's in K-band, Ka-band. And so we'll wait and see whether or not we'll receive that award that comes in 3 phases. And then there's some other strategic partnerships we're looking at in terms of orbital data centers that we bid, and we'll wait to hear whether or not our experience in high-power satellites wins the day, and we win that -- those development efforts for on-orbit data centers. So those are some of the major activities. I think there's one other in national security space that we're really keenly looking for. That's Andromeda. It's called the RG-XX. It's a GEO highly maneuvered geosynchronous orbit satellite for national security space. And so really exciting opportunities in front of us, all major programs, and that's yet to be seen in our backlog. Sujeeva De Silva: Sounds good to see you guys are very busy certainly. And then my other question is around the pipeline for the Altus satellites 2 to 5 in '28 roughly. Do those satellites imply 4 separate missions, 1 per? Or is there ability to take multiple in a mission? Any color there would be helpful. Stephen Altemus: Yes. So initially, Suji, what we had planned was the launch of Altus-1. And then our missions to fly additional satellites were opportunistic to align with the CLPS awards that we had received, and we would rideshare 2 additional satellites on every lander mission. What that did in effect was while it got the next 2 after Altus-1 up in orbit sooner, our fully operational capability was delayed out to 2029 or 2030. When we spoke to NASA, they were interested in putting on the fully operational capability. So we pulled the satellites off of our CLPS missions, negotiating with NASA for a dedicated launch to fly all 4 simultaneously on an independent mission to take all 4 of the translunar injection and then fly all 4 out and deposit them in lunar orbit, all at once to get a fully operational capability in 2028. That's the acceleration that we're talking about. So we're very excited about that and getting that network up and running in time for the Artemis missions. Operator: And your next question comes from Edison Yu from Deutsche Bank. Edison Yu: One to start off housekeeping. The $600 million in GEO sats for the 3 GEO sats, is that for the C-band, related to the C-band reallocation? Or is that separate? Stephen Altemus: Yes, I have that yet undisclosed, Edison. And in the future, we'll come out and give you a little more color on that one. Edison Yu: Okay. And then secondly, on the cash flow, I know you talked about some of the drivers for that. How are you thinking about it in the second half? Should we expect some of these headwinds to continue? Is the working capital get better? Just -- I don't know if you can provide some rough numbers around how we should be modeling the burn. Peter McGrath: Yes. I'll give you a little color around that. So when I look at the current OpEx and cash burn, there are a couple of anomalies that are occurring. We have -- as part of our transaction agreement with Lanteris, we have a slight uptick in RSUs or share-based comp that will exist through this year, through the end of this year as part of our retention agreement on certain employees as part of the transaction. Those will tick down next year, but we are seeing that increase this year, which is causing some of that OpEx growth. The -- so we do see, I'd say, something more of a steady state through the end of the year if you take all the adjustments out. The other benefit we're seeing too is our new CLPS contracts now have milestones lined up with the SpaceX payments. The one we saw in the second quarter, which was specific to IM-4 did not. And so we'll see cash more match those significant events now on the SpaceX payments for CS-8 and CT-4. So I think those will balance out the cash as well. So you take the anomalies out, I think you're pretty much at a steady state. And then that's probably a good way to look at it. Operator: And your next question comes from Greg Pendy from Clear Street. Gregory Pendy: Just on the NSN contract, can you give us kind of what the most likely cadence right now is to get to 5 satellites? And also, what does the demand right now look like in the environment in terms of the pay-by-the-minute service? Stephen Altemus: Yes. So as you heard in this introduction, we're going to fly the Altus-1 first communication data relay satellite on Mission 3 in the first quarter of '27. We'll then follow it up with 4 additional satellites. Our complete constellation includes 5 satellites around the moon that do communications in K, X and S-band. Those will all be deployed and operational in 2028 is the plan. We'll have a pay-by-the-minute structure with a minimum set of minutes for data relay, but then there's an additional position navigation and timing service revenue as we add the PNT, the navigation and timing, which will be a kind of a broadcast always-on service that will be supported by the government to keep that signal processing for any missions that go around the moon. So that's kind of the 2-phase structure for the business in terms of payments and revenue and the timing being the 2028 activation of the full operational capability. Gregory Pendy: Okay. So I mean I guess what I'm saying is that's ahead of the prior thought process, which I think was just 1 and then a mission with 2 in 2028. So is that a reflection that there's significant demand in the market, I guess, for the services? Stephen Altemus: Yes. What's really important as part of the NASA Ignition event was to align all of the systems that have to support Artemis 4, which is humans on the moon in 2028. Our fully operational capability was opportunistic, flying 2 birds on the next 2 subsequent missions after Mission 3, the CLPS missions, which extended us out into July of 2029. So we needed to pull those back in, and it really wasn't a constraint for how we build the satellites. That wasn't a challenge. It was when we could get launch capacity to put those in orbit. And so by renegotiating with NASA, the launch strategy for those satellites, we're able to pull full operational capability back to the left into 2028 to support the Artemis program. Peter McGrath: Yes. And just to note, we're seeing some benefits in that, too, because now we're buying 4 shipsets, and we've got good commonality in purchasing as well as assembly and integration. So it actually is becoming more beneficial from a business perspective to accelerate as well. Operator: And your next question comes from Michael Leshock from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Michael Leshock: Just wanted to ask on Lunar landers and given NASA's accelerated demand for landers, how quickly can you produce Nova-C with your current footprint? And do you see any need to expand capacity further on the lander side to support NASA's initiatives? And then also, how does that compare for the Nova-D production expectations? Stephen Altemus: Yes. We recently bid a mission called CS-8, which was exactly what you're pulling on is how do you get to production lander. That's the whole idea here is no longer building bespoke landers for each individual mission, but how do you get the production rate up. And we did a 26-month development and build time for CS-8, and that will fly in 2028. That's for the Nova-C. We do have a Nova-D class, roughly 500 kilograms of payload to the surface under contract in CT-4. And we're looking at building 2 in a row or 2 in parallel is a better way to put it, in our facilities here, anticipating an award in -- for a second Nova-D in the same time frame, which is the 2029 time frame. So we have about a year ago or so, began a facility expansion in anticipation of growth of the Nova-D. And so those facilities are coming online now. We finished half of the expansion here, and we're completing the machine shop and manufacturing area right now. That will accommodate this increase in cadence and throughput through the factory to support the heavier cargo missions. Michael Leshock: Okay. Great. And then just following up on NSNS as you look ahead to fully operational revenue in 2028, given the demand you talked about and time lines, what do you see as kind of the ballpark opportunity size for that program on an annual basis as it matures? Stephen Altemus: Well, we initially bid about 0.5 million minutes a year for that operational capability. We'll have to wait and see what the ultimate demand is. I think that demand for that network will span across civil space, commercial and national security space with all the activity that's projected to be in and around the moon. So what I quote in terms of 0.5 million minutes was an initial bid into a government requirement on the civil side. And so I can't quantify the top end of that, but I can quantify roughly the bottom end at about 0.5 million minutes of time. And that doesn't include, like I mentioned, the PNT broadcast signal, which is an additional over and above the pay by-the-minute model that we're anticipating. Operator: Your next question comes from Alex Preston from Bank of America. Alexander Christian Preston: Just curious going back to the sort of national security Golden Dome side of things, right, the additional AMDT-3 awards supporting L3. It's clear that you guys are gaining traction on the BUS side of things. I'm curious as these programs begin to continue to scale, is there appetite to get involved more on the payloads and really come to market as an end-to-end supplier? Or I guess maybe more broadly, what is the road map for that national security business look like given the recent wins? Stephen Altemus: Yes, very good. I think you'll see us emerge as a prime contractor here. We do work with L3 as a sub to provide the BUS, which we're going to continue to do. But as we move into other opportunities, you'll see us bidding as a prime on a lunar surveyor, supplying all the imagers for and the BUS for mapping the moon and then integrating those data products, downlinking them through our networks, bringing them back to our data repository and doing the analytics on those data products and providing derived products and digital terrain maps of the moon. So as I think about this, the prime aspect of it is not just providing a BUS with the sensors, but integrating that bus and the sensor into our platform of communications and analytics to provide the data products and information that the government is going to want. And that's where you'll see us emerge as I talk about this selling the Infrastructure-as-a-Service. And then other places where we're working now to incubate the Nebula orbital transfer vehicle, we'll take that and provide more of an integrated solution in the future, I anticipate in terms of providing additional transfer vehicles with payloads. And also, as you think about the satellite constellation around the moon, we provide the satellites. We already provide the communications package in X, S and K-band. And there's additional payload space on those birds, which will integrate additional payloads to create a more fulsome offering in the data constellation. So we are moving towards being that prime and integrating the sensors with our BUSes as we move forward. But right now, in the Golden Dome area, we're a subcontractor supporting L3 on the BUSes. Peter McGrath: Yes. Just a comment, as you see us rolling out those ATPs that we're talking about and as they transition to contracts, there are some in that mix that we are a prime contractor on that you will see as we roll those out. Operator: And your next question comes from Austin Moeller from Canaccord. Austin Moeller: I was just wondering if you see an opportunity given the recent additions to the ground stations and the ground network to support Department of Wars, Space Force programs in providing data uplink or downlink in TT&C as the growing Space Force fleet continues to expand. Stephen Altemus: Austin, yes, in fact, that's the case, and we've been having some discussions about that, not only here in the U.S. but in the U.K. And we can bring down the full raw data stream and then patch that data stream to wherever that needs to go to give it to any customers that are interested in looking at that data stream. So the network is available for users in the cis-lunar space arena and for space domain awareness, and we're talking about that presently and actively with those customers. Austin Moeller: Great. And can you comment on where we're at on Nova-D planning, construction, R&D process? Like what the capital might be required to support this and how much might be customer-funded R&D and CapEx? Stephen Altemus: Yes. For Nova-D, and that's our class of lander that's say, 500 kilograms to the surface of the moon, of payload. That is currently essentially fully funded to take that development to flight and land on the moon. The one -- the 2 areas that may take investment in CapEx and technology IRAD would be when you're talking about moving to a 3-engine configuration with a fully gimbled package of 3 main engines, that gets you to at least 1 metric ton delivery to the surface. And then the NASA is calling for landers that can go from -- carry 2 to 5 metric tons to the surface. That would require an upgrade to the engine itself and maybe even an e-pump or electric pump that goes with that engine package. And so those are areas we're looking at now to provide a road map of where we're going to make technology investments in the future heavy cargo class. However, the 500-kilogram Nova-D is funded under contracts today. And we'll -- there's opportunities, like I mentioned, to rebid that class of land or for yet a subsequent mission. So that hopefully, we could build 2 in parallel. So that's kind of what we're doing in coming up with that road map of where those technologies need to be matured to get to the heavier and heavier cargo, which will be an essential point or piece of CLPS 2.0. Operator: And your next question comes from Jeff Van Rhee from Craig-Hallum Capital Group. Vijay Homan: This is Vijay on for Jeff. First, on just IM-4, is there anything you can provide us in terms of time line? I think originally, that was planned for 2027, if I remember correctly. But obviously, with how IM-3 has moved around. Just wondering if you have any update there. Stephen Altemus: Yes. IM-4 is still on the books for late 2027 and still on track. You heard us talk about EAC as we shift resources over from IM-3, which is nearing completion to IM-4, slight upper there, but everything seems to be on track so far for IM-4. Vijay Homan: Great. Glad to hear that. And then as far as free cash flow, I think you guys mentioned that you expect it to improve kind of throughout the second half. Do you guys have a target time frame for when you want to hit free cash flow breakeven? Or is it just kind of sequential improvements each quarter? Peter McGrath: We haven't guided yet on free cash flow. So we're not providing a formal date, although I will say that quarter-over-quarter, we've been improving gross profit. And with the exception of the EAC this quarter, I think we're seeing good EBITDA growth as well. And so I think our near-term focus is EBITDA positive, and then I think the next step is definitely moving into free cash flow positive. Operator: And there are no further questions at this time. And I would now like to turn the call back over to Steve Altemus for the closing remarks. Please go ahead. Stephen Altemus: Well, thank you, everybody, for attending today and for your questions. You can see Intuitive Machines continues to diversify. We saw record orders across all of our customer channels, and we look forward to executing while also expanding backlog even further throughout the rest of the year. So thank you very much. Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining, and that concludes today's conference call. All participants may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Intuitive Machines, 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 Intuitive Machines wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and 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 $432,621!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,335,314!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by nearly 5x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 20, 2026. 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 Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Intuitive Machines (LUNR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

The brokerage lowered its price target to $26 from $32, with the new level representing around 42% upside from current levels. Intuitive Machines ended the quarter ended June 30 with a record backlog of about $1.8 billion. According to Koyfin data, the stock has a consensus 12-month price target of $31.67. Intuitive Machines (LUNR) was in the spotlight on Friday after the space infrastructure company received an upgrade from Stifel following its surging backlog despite second-quarter earnings that came in below Wall Street’s estimates. LUNR stock gained around 5% in pre-market trading and is on track to gain for a fourth straight session. See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox Stifel upgraded Intuitive Machines to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold,’ according to The Fly, adding that the company’s “backlog surge” is important, after the company reported a second-quarter (Q2) revenue and earnings miss. Despite posting a record quarterly revenue of $206.2 million, more than four times the $50.3 million reported a year earlier, it missed Wall Street’s estimate of about $221.1 million, according to Fiscal.ai. The company’s loss widened to $0.29 per share from $0.22 a year earlier and missed the expected $0.10 per share loss. However, Intuitive Machines ended the quarter with a record backlog of about $1.8 billion, up $1.5 billion from the end of 2025. It has also secured $300 million in awards so far this quarter from commercial, civil, and national-security customers. Stifel cited the upgrade to the company’s order acceleration and the stock’s attractive valuation. The brokerage lowered the price target to $26 from $32, but it still represents around 42% upside from current levels. According to Koyfin, the stock has a consensus 12-month price target of $31.67. Seven of nine analysts covering the stock have a ‘Buy’ rating, one ‘Hold’ rating, and one ‘Sell’ rating. Intuitive Machines maintained its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of $900 million to $1 billion and expects positive adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and tax. It ended the quarter with $367 million in cash. Retail sentiment surrounding LUNR on Stocktwits remained ‘extremely bullish’ over the past 24 hours, amid a 320% jump in message volumes. One user said the stock could climb to $50. Another user said a revaluation of the stock “could be on the horizon,” given the backlog growth. LUNR shares have gained around 13% so far in 2026. Also read: AST SpaceMobile Gets FCC Nod To Test 800 MHz Satellite Connectivity – A Look At The Key Highlights For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com. Arnab Paul 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: NVDA Discloses $21B Stake In SpaceX — Elon Musk’s Rocket Firm Becomes Nvidia’s No. 2 Holding Berkshire Hathaway Makes Alphabet Its No. 3 Holding After 48M Share Buy Berkshire Hathaway Makes Alphabet Its No. 3 Holding After 48M Share Buy

Intuitive Machines, Inc. LUNR used its second-quarter 2026 call to emphasize record backlog, broader customer diversification and the transition from mission-by-mission work toward an integrated space infrastructure model. The central near-term issue is execution. Management reaffirmed $900 million to $1 billion of 2026 revenues and positive adjusted EBITDA, while saying contract timing will determine where results land within the range. Reported revenues of $206.2 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $219.3 million. The reported loss of 16 cents per share was wider than the loss per share estimate of 7 cents. Intuitive Machines, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Intuitive Machines, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Intuitive Machines, Inc. Quote Chief executive officer Steve Altemus said backlog reached about $1.8 billion, with civil, commercial and national security customers all contributing. The company also had more than 80 spacecraft under contract. Chief financial officer Peter McGrath said 25-30% of quarter-end backlog is expected to convert to revenues in 2026 and 35-40% in 2027. A B. Riley Securities analyst pressed management on what could move revenues toward the middle of guidance. Altemus said procurement timing and the definitization of authority-to-proceed awards are the main swing factors, rather than customer demand. Altemus said the company is running production across its IM-300 low-Earth-orbit platform, IM-1300 geostationary satellites and a smaller set of lunar and specialty spacecraft. McGrath said most nonrecurring work on the 300-class platform was retired with the first 16 SDA Tranche 1 satellites, while high bus commonality supports larger production runs. A Stifel analyst asked about capacity for additional orders. Altemus said Intuitive Machines is adding 75,000 square feet in Houston and still has room to increase throughput on the IM-300 line. Altemus said NASA selected Intuitive Machines for CS-8 after awarding CT-4, extending the company's CLPS mission cadence into 2030. Management also expects four additional CLPS opportunities during 2026, including the CLPS 2.0 multi-award contract. A Cantor Fitzgerald analyst asked about Mission 3 readiness. Altemus said the spacecraft remains targeted for a January-to-March 2027 launch window, with engine hot-fire testing and an October delta flight-readiness review still ahead. Altemus also said the contracted Nova-D lander, designed for roughly 500 kilograms of lunar payload, is essentially fully funded through flight and landing. He outlined further technology investment for heavier cargo variants. Altemus said Altus-1 remains scheduled to launch with Mission 3 in the first quarter of 2027. The company now plans to deploy Altus-2 through Altus-5 together in 2028, accelerating full lunar communications capability. A Clear Street analyst asked whether the faster deployment reflected service demand. Altemus said the change was driven by aligning the network to support Artemis 4 in 2028 rather than by a manufacturing constraint. McGrath added that buying four shipsets together should improve purchasing, assembly and integration efficiency. Management expects the network to support pay-by-the-minute data relay plus position, navigation and timing services. McGrath said second-quarter adjusted EBITDA improved to negative $14 million from negative $25 million a year earlier, while gross profit increased to $36 million from negative $12 million. Operating cash use was $60 million, reflecting inventory, infrastructure, acquisition-related costs and an IM-4 SpaceX milestone. The company ended the quarter with $367 million in cash. A Deutsche Bank analyst asked about second-half cash burn. McGrath said underlying spending should be closer to a steady state after adjusting for unusual items, while newer CLPS milestone structures better align customer receipts with launch payments. Altemus framed the company's strategy around building spacecraft, connecting them through communications networks and operating those assets over their life cycles. Acquisitions including Lanteris, KinetX, Goonhilly Earth Station and COMSAT support that model. McGrath said the second-half priorities are to execute backlog, convert awards into revenue, improve profitability and expand recurring infrastructure revenue. Across the call, management emphasized delivery against contracted work while continuing to build recurring infrastructure services. LUNR carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), while its Value, Growth, Momentum and VGM Scores are all F. Zacks Style Score methodology places F at the weakest end of the A-to-F scale and uses the scores as a complement to the Zacks Rank. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks highlights the strongest combinations among Zacks Rank #1 or #2 stocks with A or B Style Scores. LUNR does not meet that profile, and its Zacks Rank can change as earnings estimates are revised after the newly reported second-quarter results. 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 Intuitive Machines, Inc. (LUNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Interested in Intuitive Machines, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Revenue and backlog surged: Intuitive Machines reported Q2 revenue of $206 million, more than four times the prior-year result, and reaffirmed full-year guidance of $900 million to $1 billion with positive adjusted EBITDA expected. Backlog reached approximately $1.8 billion, supported by $1.7 billion in year-to-date bookings. Profitability improved but cash use remained significant: Gross profit rose to $36 million and adjusted EBITDA improved to a $14 million loss, while the company used $84 million in cash during the quarter. It ended with $367 million in cash, including $235 million raised through its at-the-market program. Space infrastructure pipeline expanded: New satellite, lunar and national-security awards include more than $600 million for three geostationary communications satellites and NASA’s CS-8 lunar mission. The company is also expanding Houston production capacity and plans to accelerate its lunar communications constellation, with four additional relay satellites targeted for launch in 2028. 5 Space Stocks Face a Brutal Correction: Which Ones Are Still Buys? Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) reported second-quarter revenue of $206 million, more than four times its prior-year result, as the company expanded its satellite manufacturing, lunar-services and national-security operations. Management reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion and its expectation for positive adjusted EBITDA. Chief Executive Officer Steve Altemus said the company ended the quarter with approximately $1.8 billion in backlog and more than 80 spacecraft under contract. The backlog was composed of about 37% civil-space work, 49% commercial-space work and 14% national-security work. Through the date of the earnings call, Intuitive Machines had generated $1.7 billion in year-to-date bookings, including $1.2 billion in new bookings during the second quarter and afterward. → AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be AST SpaceMobile Stock Sinks as SpaceX Fallout Rattles Space Sector “This marks the highest quarterly bookings in company history,” Altemus said, adding that authority-to-proceed awards could contribute another $300 million in bookings during the second half as contracts are finalized. Chief Financial Officer Pete McGrath said quarterly gross profit rose to $36 million from a loss of $12 million a year earlier, supported by a greater contribution from the company’s satellite business and cost and execution efforts across programs. Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of $14 million from a loss of $25 million in the prior-year period. → Nebius’ Q2 Beat Shows the AI Bottleneck Is Capacity, Not Demand 3 Space Stocks That Could Outshine SpaceX After Its IPO Operating loss was $47 million, reflecting higher selling, general and administrative expenses, amortization and a $14.7 million estimated-at-completion adjustment for the IM-4 mission to accommodate payload changes. SG&A expense was $60 million, including approximately $11 million in share-based compensation and $8 million in acquisition-related transaction and integration costs. Operating cash used during the quarter was $60 million, while capital expenditures were $24 million. McGrath said the company deployed $84 million of cash during the period, citing strategic inventory purchases, infrastructure investments, acquisition-related costs and a $17 million IM-4 milestone payment to SpaceX. → On Holding's Price Stumble May Be an Opening for a Company Built to Run The company ended the quarter with $367 million in cash, including $235 million in net proceeds raised through its at-the-market program during the quarter. McGrath said free cash flow is expected to improve in the second half as investments stabilize and the company receives milestone payments tied to recent awards. Management said roughly 25% to 30% of backlog is expected to convert to revenue in 2026, with 35% to 40% expected in 2027 and the remainder thereafter. McGrath said the main variable within the company’s 2026 revenue outlook is the timing of contract finalization and revenue conversion rather than demand. Intuitive Machines cited several recent manufacturing awards across commercial and national-security markets. During the quarter, the company delivered all 16 satellites supporting the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 tracking layer and continued production for Tranche 2. It also has awards for 18 Tranche 3 tracking-layer satellites and an additional 18 satellites supporting AMDT3, part of the Golden Dome architecture. Altemus said the company has more than 70 IM-300 spacecraft under contract. He described the IM-300 series as a production program with significant commonality across the satellite bus, while other company programs include IM-1300 geostationary communications satellites, lunar landers, orbital transfer vehicles and lunar relay satellites. In commercial space, Intuitive Machines received an award for three geostationary communications satellites from an undisclosed customer, valued at more than $600 million over the next 30 months. The company also said SiriusXM’s SXM-11 spacecraft launched and deployed during the quarter and was expected to be handed over to the customer later in August. The company is also discussing strategic partnerships in the emerging orbital data-center market, according to Altemus. NASA selected Intuitive Machines for the CS-8 mission during the quarter, extending the company’s lunar delivery schedule beyond 2028 and into 2030. The award represents the company’s sixth mission under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, contract. Earlier in the year, Intuitive Machines received the CT-4 mission award. Altemus said the company expects to pursue additional CLPS opportunities, including two landed missions, a lunar orbiter-surveyor opportunity and the anticipated CLPS 2.0 multi-award contract. He said the proposed CLPS 2.0 contract is expected to exceed $10 billion and support heavier cargo landers. The company’s IM-3 mission remains scheduled for a January-through-March 2027 launch window aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Altemus said the spacecraft is in assembly, integration and testing, with an engine hot-fire test and a delta flight-readiness review planned before launch. Intuitive Machines also plans to accelerate deployment of its lunar communications constellation. Its Altus-1 lunar communications relay satellite is scheduled to launch on IM-3 in the first quarter of 2027. Rather than deploying the remaining Altus-2 through Altus-5 satellites incrementally on later lunar missions, the company plans to launch the four satellites together in 2028. Altemus said the revised approach is intended to establish full operational capability ahead of schedule for Artemis-related activity. The network is expected to provide pay-by-the-minute data relay services as well as positioning, navigation and timing capabilities. Management emphasized its strategy to build, connect and operate space infrastructure, supported by acquisitions including Lanteris, KinetX, Goonhilly Earth Station and COMSAT. Altemus said these additions expanded the company’s satellite manufacturing, mission operations, navigation and ground-communications capabilities. The company is increasing manufacturing capacity in Houston, including an additional 75,000 square feet of production and manufacturing space. Altemus said the expanded facilities are intended to support higher lunar-lander cadence and production of the larger Nova-D lander, which is designed to deliver about 500 kilograms of payload to the lunar surface. Management said the Nova-D program is funded under existing contracts, while future investments may focus on technologies required for heavier cargo landers. The company continues to target recurring revenue from communications, navigation, hosted payloads, mission operations and data services as its infrastructure assets become operational. Intuitive Machines is a Houston, Texas–based aerospace company specializing in commercial lunar exploration and services. The firm develops end-to-end solutions for robotic missions to the Moon, providing spacecraft design, mission management, navigation, communications, and data services under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Founded in 2013 by aerospace engineers Steve Altemus, Tim Crain and Kris Kimel, Intuitive Machines has grown from a small startup into one of the leading private entities pursuing lunar surface deliveries. 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 "Intuitive Machines Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Revenue: $206 million in Q2 2026, more than 4 times the prior year. Gross Profit: $36 million in the quarter, up significantly from -$12 million in the prior year. SG&A: $60 million in the quarter, including approximately $11 million of share-based compensation and $8 million of acquisition-related transaction and integration costs. Operational Loss: $47 million for the quarter, driven by higher SG&A amortization and a $14.7 million estimated at-complete adjustment on the IM-4 mission. Research and Development: $8 million in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA: -$14 million in Q2, compared to -$25 million in the prior year. Operating Cash Flow: -$60 million during the quarter, reflecting strategic investments in long-lead inventory and infrastructure. Capital Expenditures: $24 million, primarily for the NSNS satellite constellation and ground segment. Cash Position: Ended the quarter with $367 million in cash, including $235 million in net proceeds from the at-the-market program. Backlog: Record $1.8 billion at quarter end, with $920 million in new bookings during Q2. Full-Year Revenue Guidance: Reaffirmed at $900 million to $1 billion. Full-Year Adjusted EBITDA Guidance: Expected to be positive for the full year. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with LUNR. Is LUNR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 13, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) delivered a strong quarter with $206 million in revenue, more than 4 times the prior year, and exited with a record $1.8 billion backlog. The company secured $1.2 billion in new bookings in Q2, the highest quarterly bookings in its history, including awards for 18 AMDT3 Golden Dome satellites and three commercial GEO communication satellites. Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) is diversifying its customer base, with Q2 backlog split approximately 37% civil, 49% commercial, and 14% national security space, reducing dependence on any single market. The company is accelerating its lunar communications constellation, planning to deploy Altus-2 through Altus-5 together in 2028, ahead of schedule, to support NASA's Artemis missions. Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of $900 million to $1 billion and expects positive adjusted EBITDA, driven by strong backlog visibility and improved gross profit of $36 million in Q2. Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) reported an operational loss of $47 million for Q2, driven by higher SG&A, amortization, and a $14.7 million estimated at-complete adjustment on the IM-4 mission due to payload changes. The company's operating cash flow was negative at $60 million in Q2, reflecting strategic investments in long-lead inventory, acquisition costs, and a $17 million milestone payment to SpaceX for IM-4. Adjusted EBITDA remained negative at -$14 million for Q2, although improved from -$25 million in the prior year, indicating ongoing profitability challenges. Intuitive Machines Inc (NASDAQ:LUNR) faces execution risks with its IM-3 mission, which is scheduled for Q1 2027, and must complete critical tests like engine hot fire and laser sensor integration before launch. The company's cash burn is elevated due to investments in production capacity and the NSNS satellite constellation, with capital expenditures expected to remain high in coming quarters, potentially straining liquidity. Q: What are the major swing factors to reach the midpoint of the $900 million to $1 billion revenue guidance, given the strong visibility at the lower end?A: Pete McGrath (CFO) explained that while there is strong visibility at the bottom end of the range, the opportunity to reach the middle depends on the timing of procurements and contract definitization. Accelerating these processes could pull revenue into the current year, whereas delays would defer it to next year, justifying the wider guidance range. Q: What is the timeline for the remaining CLPS task orders, and are they individual or multi-lander awards?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) detailed that there are two landed mission task orders with draft RFPs this summer, an orbiter surveyor mission to map the Moon (replacing LRO) in early fall, and the CLPS 2.0 multi-award IDIQ (estimated over $10 billion) expected this year. Additionally, the final CLPS 1.0 award (CP-32) is expected in January, totaling five opportunities into next year. Q: Can you discuss the significance of simultaneous satellite construction and its impact on margins?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) and Pete McGrath (CFO) highlighted that the IM 300 series is in full production with over 70 satellites under contract, benefiting from retired non-recurring engineering costs and high bus commonality. This production-line approach, alongside the IM 1300 series and one-off spacecraft, allows for efficient scaling and improved margins. Q: What are the remaining milestones for IM-3, and how confident are you in the Q1 2027 launch window?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) stated that IM-3 is in assembly, integration, and testing, with functional testing underway. Upcoming milestones include an engine hot fire test and finalizing the precision landing sensor suite. After an initial flight readiness review in July, a Delta flight readiness review in October will provide the green light for the January-March 2027 launch window. Q: How are you thinking about the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) opportunities, and what is the current status?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) noted that while initial LTV awards were small, NASA has significant activity remaining. The slow pace is driven by the lack of heavy cargo landers to fly larger LTVs. Intuitive Machines is developing a heavier cargo variant of its Nova-class lander to accommodate future LTV flights, positioning itself for Phase 2 of the Moon Base initiative. Q: Can you provide an update on the pipeline and any quantification of expansion opportunities?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) mentioned several major opportunities, including bidding on the TDRS replacement (K-band), strategic partnerships in orbital data centers, and the Andromeda (RG-XX) GEO satellite program for national security space. These represent significant potential additions to the backlog beyond the current $1.8 billion. Q: Does the plan to deploy Altus-2 through Altus-5 in 2028 imply four separate missions, or can multiple satellites be launched together?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) clarified that after renegotiating with NASA, the four satellites will be launched together on a dedicated mission to achieve full operational capability in 2028, ahead of the original schedule. This acceleration supports the Artemis IV timeline and provides purchasing and integration efficiencies. Q: How should we model cash burn in the second half, and are the headwinds expected to continue?A: Pete McGrath (CFO) indicated that excluding anomalies like share-based compensation from the Lanteris retention agreement and the IM-4 SpaceX milestone payment, cash usage should reach a steady state. New CLPS contracts now align milestone payments with SpaceX payments, which should balance cash flow in the second half. Q: What is the most likely cadence to get to five NSNS satellites, and what does demand look like for the pay-by-the-minute service?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) confirmed that Altus-1 launches on IM-3 in Q1 2027, with the remaining four satellites deployed and operational in 2028. The business model includes a pay-by-the-minute structure with a minimum of 500,000 minutes annually, plus additional position, navigation, and timing (PNT) broadcast services. Q: Given the recent national security wins, is there appetite to become an end-to-end supplier on payloads, and what does the roadmap look like?A: Steve Altemus (CEO) stated that while currently a subcontractor to L3Harris on the Golden Dome buses, Intuitive Machines is moving toward prime contractor roles. This includes integrating sensors with buses, providing data products and analytics, and expanding offerings like the Nebula OTV and lunar communications constellation with additional hosted payloads. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management is pivoting the company from a lunar delivery specialist to a 'next-generation space prime' capable of building, connecting, and operating integrated space infrastructure. Revenue growth of over 4x year-over-year was primarily driven by execution across satellite manufacturing, CLPS missions, and the Near Space Network Services (NSNS) programs. Strategic acquisitions of Lanteris, KinetX, and Goonhilly Earth Station have expanded the addressable market from $20 billion to over $150 billion by adding satellite production, deep space navigation, and ground segment capabilities. The company is intentionally investing in inventory and production capacity ahead of contract awards to meet increasing customer demands for faster delivery and higher volume. Diversification efforts have successfully shifted the backlog composition to 49% commercial and 14% national security, reducing reliance on civil space (NASA) contracts. Operational loss in Q2 was impacted by a $14.7 million estimated-at-complete (EAC) adjustment for the IM-4 mission to accommodate specific payload changes. Reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $900 million to $1 billion, with the primary variable being the timing of contract definitization rather than customer demand. Management expects positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year, supported by higher-margin contributions from the satellite manufacturing business. Free cash flow is projected to improve in the second half of the year as strategic investments in long-lead inventory stabilize and milestone receivables are collected. The lunar communications constellation (Altus satellites 2-5) has been accelerated for a simultaneous launch in 2028 to achieve fully operational capability ahead of NASA's Artemis missions. The company anticipates an additional $300 million in bookings through the second half of the year as current Authority to Proceed (ATP) awards are fully definitized. Elevated CapEx is expected to continue in coming quarters to support the accelerated production of all five NSNS satellites and ground segment upgrades. A $17 million milestone payment to SpaceX for the IM-4 mission contributed to the $84 million cash deployment during the quarter. The company raised $235 million in net proceeds through its at-the-market (ATM) program to provide liquidity for current operations and growth initiatives. Management flagged $8 million in acquisition-related transaction and integration costs during the quarter as a non-recurring headwind to profitability. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Visibility is strong at the low end of the $900 million to $1 billion range; reaching the midpoint depends on the speed of definitizing existing ATPs. Acceleration of certain procurement timelines could pull revenue into the current year rather than deferring it to 2027. Management expects to bid on four additional CLPS task orders this year, including a replacement for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The upcoming CLPS 2.0 contract is estimated to be a $10 billion multi-award IDIQ spanning 10 years, focusing on heavier cargo landers. The company currently has over 70 IM-300 spacecraft under contract, benefiting from high commonality and retired non-recurring engineering costs. Capacity is being expanded with an additional 75,000 square feet in Houston to accommodate increased lander and satellite production rates. The strategy shifted from opportunistic rideshares to a dedicated launch for satellites 2-5 in 2028 to meet NASA's Artemis 4 requirements. Consolidating the launch provides business benefits through bulk purchasing of shipsets and streamlined assembly and integration.

Intuitive Machines LUNR is slated to release second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 13, 2026, before market open.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for loss is pegged at seven cents per share, suggesting an improvement from the prior-year quarter’s reported loss of 11 cents. The consensus estimate for sales is pegged at $219.3 million, suggesting an improvement of 335.9% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure of $50.3 million. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research LUNR’s earnings missed estimates in three of the four trailing quarters, while results were in line with estimates in one quarter. The average negative surprise was 72.62%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for LUNR this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.LUNR has an Earnings ESP of -12.85% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Some stocks in the same sector that have the combination of factors indicating an earnings beat are Vertical Aerospace EVTL and Mercury Systems MRCY. EVTL and MRCY have an Earnings ESP of +15.39% and +6.67%, respectively. Both Vertical Aerospace and Mercury Systems carry a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. Intuitive Machines’ second-quarter 2026 earnings are likely to have benefited from continued progress across its satellite manufacturing, lunar delivery and space infrastructure businesses. The company’s growing production capabilities following the Lanteris acquisition are also likely to have helped improve execution and meet increasing customer demand.The company’s earnings are anticipated to have gained from strong demand across commercial, civil and national security space programs. Continued progress on lunar missions, including the IM-3 mission and future CLPS opportunities, along with work on the lunar data relay satellite and other space infrastructure programs, is likely to have contributed to the quarter’s performance.Steady execution of existing contracts, improving production efficiency and a growing contribution from higher-margin services are expected to have supported profitability. LUNR’s shares have surged 57.1% in the past year, outperforming the Zacks aerospace-defense industry’s growth of 5.3% as well as the broader Zacks Aerospace sector’s growth of 7.4%. It also came in above the S&P 500’s gain of 21.7% in the same time frame. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Shares of Vertical Aerospace and Mercury Systems have lost 83.7% and gained 59.6%, respectively.From a valuation perspective, LUNR’s forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 3.54X, a premium to its industry's average of 2.66X. This suggests that investors are paying a higher price for the company's expected sales relative to the industry average. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Among its peers, Mercury Systems is trading at a premium to LUNR. MRCY's forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio is 6.16X. Despite continued investments in satellite production, lunar infrastructure and space network capabilities, Intuitive Machines continues to benefit from strong demand across commercial, civil and national security space markets. Its growing capabilities in lunar delivery, satellite manufacturing, communications and space infrastructure position the company to benefit from rising investments in lunar exploration and national security.The company’s strong backlog, new contract opportunities and growing presence across NASA and national security programs are expected to support future revenue growth. Its expanding space infrastructure capabilities could also create more recurring revenue opportunities over time. However, lunar program execution remains a key risk, as cost overruns and schedule delays on fixed-price missions could pressure margins and cash flow. Intuitive Machines continues to benefit from strong demand across its lunar, satellite and space infrastructure businesses. Investors should stay invested, while new investors may prefer to wait for greater clarity on execution and profitability before taking a more constructive view on the stock. 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 Intuitive Machines, Inc. (LUNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Mercury Systems Inc (MRCY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Vertical Aerospace Ltd. (EVTL) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research