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21-05-2025
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Q4 2025 Viasat Inc Earnings Call
Lisa Curran; Vice President, Investor Relations; Viasat Inc Mark Dankberg; Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer; Viasat Inc Garrett Chase; Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President; Viasat Inc Sebastiano Petti; Analyst; JPMorgan Ric Prentiss; Analyst; Raymond James Ltd. (Canada) Edison Yu; Analyst; Deutsche Bank Matthew Cavanagh; Analyst; Needham & Company Inc. Colin Canfield; Analyst; Cantor Fitzgerald Louie DiPalma; Analyst; William Blair & Company Justin Lang; Analyst; Morgan Stanley Operator Please stand by, your program is about to begin. My name is France, and I will be your conference facilitator this afternoon. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Viasat's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings results conference call. (Operator Instructions)I would now like to turn the call over to Ms. Lisa Curran, Vice President of Investor Relations. Ms. Curran, you may begin your conference. Lisa Curran Thanks, France. We will present certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. Information required by the SEC relating to these non-GAAP financial measures is available in our Q4 fiscal year 2025 shareholder letter and today's conference call slides that are available on the Investor Relations section of our the presentation, we will describe certain of the more significant factors that impacted year-over-year performance. We will also make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from any forward-looking statements that we make regarding these factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in our SEC filings and annual report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking that, I'll turn it over to Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO. Mark Dankberg Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us today. With me, along with Lisa, we have Gary Chase, our Chief Financial Officer; and Shawn Duffy, our Chief Accounting Officer. As always, we encourage reading the shareholder letter and referencing the slides we posted on our website earlier this afternoon for more fiscal 2025 was a pivotal year, creating the foundation for multi-year accelerated growth and sustained cash flow through increased earnings and decreasing capital intensity. We're pleased with our operational performance and very appreciative of the accomplishments of our team towards our strategic goals that we set for the met or beat our guidance metrics, achieved record new contract awards growth, made significant progress on our capital structure, integrated the first ViaSat-3 F1 into our global network, demonstrating the expected benefits to user experience and network efficiency. We completed critical milestones on our satellite roadmap, earned an inspiring reception to the new multi-orbit NexusWave maritime broadband service, introduced several network optimization innovations, delivering substantial efficiency and user experience reached new win-win third-party network agreements, including using LEO capacity to reduce latency for all mobility users while also enhancing capital efficiency. And we made organizational changes to further improve speed, agility and greater structural optionality. We enhanced financial transparency with new reporting segments and accompanying also bringing major innovations to our unique and valuable spectrum rights in the mobile satellite services market segment at L-band and the new MSS service capabilities they enable for our customers. Working with the Mobile Satellite Services Association, or MSSA, we're laying the foundation for an open architecture standards-based ecosystem for non-terrestrial networks, or NTN, extensions to the 5G and 6G networks of the future. Existing and emerging 3GPP standards foster interoperability for consumer mobile devices between terrestrial and a single individual satellite MSSA's framework built on those standards, enabling choice, scale, and substantially lower costs by creating an approach to NTN interoperability with and among all of the participating space networks. That approach, as adopted by space and terrestrial ecosystem participants, means mobile phones, cars, drones and virtually any standard-compliant device can use a much more cost-effective aggregation coordinated satellite spectrum globally versus depending on a single capricious is focused on three major L-band business objectives. First is substantially reducing capital and operating costs for mobile satellite services, non-terrestrial network open architecture, and standards-based systems; second, supporting transitioning and evolving our critical government, maritime, and aeronautical safety services to the enhanced capabilities they'll need in the fully connected autonomous unmanned AI future by leveraging those next-generation space assets; and third, transitioning our nascent global direct-to-device NTN business from the existing narrowband Internet of Things emergency and messaging standards through the emerging 5G new radio services market as new chips and devices enter and penetrate the market over the next few years.I can give a little color on a few key important topics before Gary goes into more detail on the financial and operational results. Of course, one of our highest priorities is getting ViaSat-3 Flight 2 and 3 into service, and we've been maintaining status on our satellite Flight 2, the critical path has been corrective actions and testing the reflectors and integrating with the rest of the spacecraft. We are still planning to shift the spacecraft to the launch site this summer. We've adjusted the in-service date in the roadmap to better reflect various potential schedule uncertainties after we ship F3 schedule critical path goes through antenna subsystem integration, but that uses a different manufacturer design not requiring corrective actions. Our ViaSat-3 Flight 1 usage has been scaling steadily and we have really good results there. Even with the antenna anomaly, we have almost 2,000 planes that are served by ViaSat-3 Flight 1 satellite, tens of thousands of cumulative flights and hundreds more every commissioned a survey to compare our service on Hawaii routes, which is what that satellite is serving, in particular, so we can benchmark user experience against the LEO competition. The results are very favorable and shown on page 10 of our online slides. They support our view that petition is primarily about delivering measurably reliable and consistent free WiFi while also providing a single interface for airlines to help manage, monetize, and integrate all their passenger entertainment and connectivity been a leader in innovating, delivering, and measuring those services and are increasingly confident that the combination of our existing and planned satellite fleet with our third-party partners will compete very well in our target markets. Of course, we can still improve by judiciously integrating more LEO networks to both further optimize latency-sensitive traffic and improve economics while meeting industry-leading service quality and reliability the multi-orbit maritime service, is already off to a good start. The terms of our Telesat Highspeed agreement blended with our existing and forthcoming owned and third-party fleets and our existing user terminals and network capabilities can improve user experiences and extend market access for all our mobility customers, enhance our competitive position, and reduce capital we can't comment much on ongoing core proceedings related to the Ligado bankruptcy. As you may know, Ligado voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Inmarsat when faced with our motion to dismiss. While Ligado subsequently refiled a similar case in New York, our position remains that Ligado's case has no legal merit and is replete with unfounded allegations of fact that are directly contradicted by Ligado's sworn statements to other courts, including the Bankruptcy continue to vigorously pursue our claims in the bankruptcy and against Ligado's meritless lawsuit. Until then, any future cash payments from Ligado have been excluded from our financial outlook and they remain as exit fiscal 2025 stronger than when we entered, as you can see by our healthy backlog, growing operating cash flow, moderating capital expenses, and continued towards growth in key businesses. And we believe that growth is durable. It's supported by market proof points in our company earnings presentation, including American Airlines selecting us to scale to free Wi-Fi, several very successful free Wi-Fi domestic trials, new global airline awards, and third-party survey data showing ViaSat-3 delivering world-class passenger in-flight WiFi experience and satisfaction on ViaSat-3 Flight 1 flights between Hawaii and the ahead, we know success in fiscal 2026 is more than just getting numbers. It's about accelerating growth and securing our future. We've got a comprehensive plan for reducing capital intensity, generating sustainable, compelling operating and free cash flow, reinforcing our competitive position, unlocking portfolio value, and driving returns and shareholder we wrap up fiscal '25, fiscal '26 is a year to position for growth. We know there will be challenges but we're playing to now Gary will go to more depth on financial and operating results. Garrett Chase Thank you, Mark, and good afternoon, everyone, joining us on the call. Before I start, let me thank the Viasat team for the hard work that created solid results for the year. Thank you for delivering for our customers and owners. Let me start by recapping our top financial build our franchise's earnings power and customer lifetime value, which leads to sustained and growing free cash flow. That's a function of profitable growth and disciplined investment in our future. Sustained free cash flow then allows us to reduce the leverage that's pressuring our debt equity prices. Paying down debt is our top priority for capital let me briefly recap the fourth quarter and fiscal '25 results. The team delivered solid results for the quarter and the year and met our full-year plan. In the fourth quarter, we delivered revenue of $1.15 billion, GAAP net income of $246 million loss, and adjusted EBITDA of $375 million for a 32.7% adjusted EBITDA margin. Adjusted EBITDA included a $6 million foreign exchange loss and $18 million of non-cash write-offs. Excluding these items, margins would have been about 2 points charges resulted primarily from efficiencies integrating the Viasat and Inmarsat networks and helped reduce cap spending in the years ahead. Mark noted our push to take further advantage of such opportunities, and I'll speak to their future impacts in my remarks on the also produced about $50 million of free cash flow, our biggest focus, with solid double-digit growth in operating cash flow and lower CapEx than our last guidance with no impact on next year's expected spend. In the last two quarters, we've reduced combined fiscal '25 and '26 CapEx by close to $300 were solid at $1.2 billion, including European Space Agency's Moonlight program, expanded scope of Airways and multiple NexusWave awards as highlighted. We took a $160 million write-down in our Communications Services segment related to the exit of certain EMEA ground network assets and related contracts as we continued integration of legacy Communication Services, revenue declined 4%, primarily driven by the decline in fixed services and other end-product revenue, partially offset by strength in government SATCOM and aviation service Commercial Aviation business showed continued growth in the quarter then service aircraft of 4,030, up 10%, despite slower deliveries and backlog of 1,600, up 18%. That backlog underpins our growth outlook for this business over the next few Aviation and service aircraft were more than 2,000, up 12% year over year. Maritime revenue was down 8% as we expected to trough in the fourth quarter. We're making progress scaling NexusWave installs and ended the quarter with more than 100 ships in active service and orders for nearly 500 government SATCOM, we had revenue growth of 16%. Our US fixed broadband revenue continued to be challenged with capacity constraints. Fixed services and other revenue was down 19% year over year. Our DAT business continues to enjoy great momentum with revenue up 11% for the quarter and 17% for the year, including the $95 million one-time revenue impact of last year's legal infosec and cyber business is the largest franchise in our DAT segment. Fourth-quarter product revenue was $97 million, up 8%. Awards more than doubled driven by favorable secular trends, product cycles, and white space product fiscal year '25, we delivered revenue of $4.5 billion, a GAAP net loss of $575 million, adjusted EBITDA of $1.55 billion for a 34.2% adjusted EBITDA margin. Adjusted EBITDA grew 4% over the $1,488,000,000 prior-year base referenced in the supplemental information section of our Investor website. Growth of 4% in the face of almost $200 million of revenue declines in our fixed services and other business area is a testament to the diversity and resiliency of our overall business to our fiscal '26 outlook. We expect modest revenue growth with flattish adjusted EBITDA, which we expect will be plus or minus 1% from the $1,547,000,000 delivered in fiscal ' put more context around flattish, let me delineate some of the items we'll be overcoming this year. We'll incur about $60 million of additional third-party bandwidth expense versus the prior year key customer needs in the present and future. We'll face $30 million of additional operating cost, $80 million in total, to ready our ViaSat-3 ground network for the service entry of Flights 2 and as well that fiscal '25 benefited from very high and lucrative royalty revenues, and we do not expect these revenues to continue at the rates we realized in fiscal '25. Offsetting these items are growth in our aviation, government SATCOM, and DAT franchises, along with about $40 million reduced operating costs from our fiscal '25 voluntary retirement we continue to expect top-line growth, double-digit cash flow growth and free cash flow inflection, our adjusted EBITDA guidance is slightly reduced from prior. And the reason is that fiscal '26 has begun with headwinds in our aviation business from continued OEM delivery delays and increases in aircraft out of service as our customers face declines in traffic annualized exposure to current tariffs is relatively minor at $25 million, but we've already been affected by a portion of that amount. Where we fall in the guidance range will depend largely on how the remainder of the year progresses on these macro of how much or little impact we faced from the macro headwind, we expect to deliver on some critical outcomes that help our fiscal '26 results, but more importantly, position us for higher growth levels in the years ahead, meaningful growth in our capacity with the launches of Flights 2 and 3 of our ViaSat-3 constellation and targeted integration of third-party capacity. Continued growth in our aviation government's SATCOM and DAT franchises, a return to growth in our Maritime business, and a bottoming out of our fixed services franchise with capacity ViaSat-3 F2 is expected to started the year facing risk to our EBITDA outlook, but our confidence in achieving sustained free cash flow generation by the second half remains high. The business momentum we created during the year, combined with reduced capital requirements following the launch of ViaSat-3, position us for meaningful free cash flow growth in the years beyond fiscal ' fiscal '26, we'll maintain our focus on capital efficiency and reducing the capital intensity of our business model and have confidence our CapEx for the year will be about $1.3 billion, inclusive of $250 million for the completion of the ViaSat-3 constellation. Our cash focus hasn't been limited to EBITDA and CapEx. In fiscal '25, we generated more than $900 million of operating cash flow, more than 30% growth from fiscal ' teams are sharpening our focus on key elements of our working capital. And when combined with less severance and restructuring-related charges, we expect operating cash flow growth to again be solidly in the double digits during fiscal ' additional steps we're taking to streamline our organization and take better advantage of integration and other portfolio opportunities will make us more nimble and competitive while providing growth and expanding margins. Our focus for this process will be in accessing more network synergies to better share capacity that will reduce future CapEx, better leveraging our combined scale to drive sourcing and non-labor savings, rationalizing our spend with third-party staffing contractors, and simplifying our work processes so we can operate with high velocity, take advantage of normal attrition rates to boost operating fiscal '26 impact will be negligible, but we see that some of these opportunities boosting margins by an incremental 200 basis points or more over a three-year let me add a little flavor on how we see our businesses developing through the year. We expect fiscal '26 will see continued growth in both our aviation subsegments despite the macro headwinds noted. The team has been working to deliver improving customer experiences and the integration of third-party capacity through the year to support even higher service levels as our demand continues to continue to develop Amara, our next-generation IFC multi-network solution and multi-orbit roadmap that will deliver the best customer experiences for the future. Amara will leverage the unique experiences and economics that a blend of LEO and GEO capacity can deliver, including network redundancy and guaranteed quality of experience, flexible business models, and industry-leading digital Mark mentioned, we signed a multi-year agreement with Telesat for LEO capacity, and we're hard at work developing a proprietary electronically-steered antenna terminal, Viasat Era, that will seamlessly integrate capacity from multiple BAMs and orbits to deliver superior government SATCOM, we should see sustained higher levels of activity and margin expansion on a higher-margin business mix, including the use of the valuable steerable beams we have on our GX fleet. While much of our business is in backlog for fiscal '26, recent new awards and renewals are encouraging the product performance has been strong and the services are performing well. I'm proud of the Maritime team for their work in developing a multi-orbit solution that will meet growing customer needs for the plan to increase the rate of installations and expect to drive slight sequential growth in Maritime revenue in the first quarter of fiscal '26. Year-over-year growth is expected at least in the fiscal fixed broadband, Flight 2 will be pivotal to turning the tide but we're not waiting. In advance, we're testing new offerings and targeting areas where we have available capacity, which is helping to stabilize gross adds and reduce churn. Continued subscriber pressure is expected in fiscal '26, but with Flight 2 service entry, we expect this business to stabilize by year-end with an ability to grow beyond the DAT, we expect another year of double-digit growth in revenues driven by information security and space emission systems. We're competing for the next-generation encryption market where we'll leverage our current capabilities, along with new technologies to provide high assurance encryption from the tactical edge and cloud connectivity while looking to expand into fiscal '26, we expect growth in our infosec and cyber business to meaningfully outpace overall DAT segment revenue growth. We expect more normalized levels of royalty revenues at TrellisWare in fiscal '26. And as a result, DAT adjusted EBITDA growth, we expect, will be less than revenue growth. Absent the TrellisWare impact, DAT margins would be improving.I'll turn now to how we're thinking about addressing our debt. Our two-step plan is to begin using available cash to redeem near-term maturity and then to leverage the momentum we've built during fiscal '26 to address our longer-term debt structure. Any potential proceeds from our strategic review or Ligado will be prioritized for debt repayment, which may accelerate our quarter end, we carried available cash of $1.6 billion at the consolidated level. We've begun using that liquidity to early redeem some of our outstanding debt. Following quarter end, we redeemed the remainder of our '25 notes for $443 fiscal '26, with confidence in sustained cash flow generation by year-end, we expect to pay down the remainder of the Inmarsat Term Loan B of about $300 million from available cash. With the business momentum we expect to build in fiscal '26, we'll be well positioned to grow our earnings and free cash flow in the years ahead. As we exit the fiscal year, we'll begin work to address our longer-term maturities and expect to have a variety of compelling options to do so. As we get closer to the end of the fiscal year, we'll provide some additional direction as to our objectives and part of managing through this transitory period of elevated capital spending primarily within the Viasat silo and as we approach sustained free cash flow, we expect upstream approximately $400 million to $500 million of cash from our Inmarsat debt silo up to the Viasat level. We want to be transparent about the total quantum expected that this process should play out over time beginning most likely in the next quarter or conclusion, I hope you now understand why I'm so excited for the opportunities ahead of us in fiscal '26. Key outcomes for the year will be modest revenue growth, flattish adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow inflection later in the year. But those outcomes mask a much more meaningful transformation in our look to emerge from fiscal '26 with substantially more capacity to deliver for our customers in the years ahead. We expect continued growth in key parts of our business and trends in some of the areas that have been weighing on near-term results to bottom or return to growth. The positioning of our franchises for sustained and profitable growth in combination with using capital requirements following the launch of ViaSat-3 lead us to expect rising free cash flow in the years ahead. Against that backdrop, we'll look to begin refinancing and optimizing our debt structure for the future.I'm excited to be part of the Viasat team as we work to realize all our opportunities in fiscal '26. And with that, operator, I'll turn the call back to you to begin the Q&A. Operator (Operator Instructions) Sebastiano Petti, JPMorgan. Sebastiano Petti Thanks for all the color there at a segment level, super helpful. I was wondering if you could update us -- I don't know if you touched upon it in your prepared remarks, but any update on the process, the strategic review process for the Defense and Advanced Technologies segment? I think that's something you guys have alluded to in subsequent to know if any update there or how you guys are thinking about that. Is that process still ongoing? Perhaps any update on timing would be super then I guess, just in regards to the satellite launch for F2. I guess what gives you confidence that early 2026 at this point? And is part of the softer perhaps EBITDA you did touch upon getting additional ground network costs in as part of the softer EBITDA guide than previously anticipated a function of just having to wear more of those ground network costs before getting kind of any revenue benefits from there? That would be super helpful if you can comment. Thank you. Mark Dankberg Okay. Sure, thanks. I'll take your questions in order. On the defense and strategic review that is still underway, things -- that business is doing really well so we're constantly assessing what we think the value of each part of those businesses are relative to what our expectations are of their future cash flows, and I think they're evolving are also, at the same time, looking at ways in which some of the things that fall out of that evaluation that are things that we can do to enhance their value and their competitiveness. We're doing those at the same time. But the review is still underway, and I think you should just look for us to make any statements if there's any material change in how we're thinking about part on Flight 2 schedule. Remember, a lot of what's been going on over the last couple of years has really been about understanding the source of the anomaly and the corrective action process. That's where a lot of the uncertainty has been. We're reaching the conclusion that, that entire subassembly will be delivered to spacecraft prime fairly soon, and then it's a lot more straightforward and we're going through processes that we already did on Flight terms of spacecraft integration, we're still on track to deliver the satellite -- the completed satellite to the launch site this summer, as we expected before. And well, right now, with our focus having been on delivering the satellite, we're also looking at what the activities will be post delivery. There's a variety of activities in there, some of which kind of beyond our control. So we felt it was prudent just to update investors and let them know that there is some probability that it could fall into early calendar ' other thing that I would remind you of is that part of the reason that we use satellite in service in our roadmap is that's really what defines what -- how it's going to affect our financial outlook. And there's really no material change to our financial outlook as a result of the third point on the EBITDA, I'll let Gary address that one. Garrett Chase Yes, Sebastiano, we actually reviewed that number, I think, the quarter prior, so there's no impact from the ground network you're referencing. That was not a driver in the guidance. Operator Ric Prentiss, Raymond James. Ric Prentiss A couple of questions. Can you hear me okay? Garrett Chase Yes. Ric Prentiss Okay, great. First question. Obviously, you can't talk a lot about Ligado, but is there some time line you can at least actually kind of lay out for us of what we should be watching on the time line of Ligado? Is there any way to put some goalposts around what the magnitude might be?And I think, Gary, you mentioned if there were proceeds, it would most likely go towards delevering. Then I had a follow-up. Mark Dankberg Okay. We are participating in a litigation. One of the main things that we would refer investors to an analyst as well is just to look through the public record. It's in the docket. And you can get a little bit of sense of how things are in terms of what's at stake and what is upside for us is it's also part of the public record that the amount of cash that we're owed is in excess of $500 million. And that, according to the bankruptcy plan, the entity intends to consummate the transaction that, that's based on. So those are the things that we're working towards, but it's hard. It's very difficult for us to comment any further than that at this point. Ric Prentiss And anything as far as magnitude? Mark Dankberg Well, the main thing I'd say is just I think the thing to keep in mind is what the amount that we're owed, which is, right now, a matter of public record. So that's something to -- it's just a way to frame the problem. Ric Prentiss And Gary, you mentioned proceeds might go to delevering. Is there kind of a target zone of where you'd like to see leverage get to over the next couple of years, given Ligado, given potential unlocking of portfolio value? Garrett Chase Well, yes. Let's start with lower, which is what we're working on urgent. I think we've done the research on this. And I think as is consistent with a lot of asset-intensive businesses, when you get to around 3x, that's where two things start to happen. That's where, first of all, your cost of debt capital starts to flatten out and where equity value is maximized. So clearly, that is an initial resting working at least to get there. I think once we get there, we'll see what we want to do next. What you see from us though is, again, we're acting -- today, we're not necessarily trying to be scientific about it. We're working as hard as we can to drive free cash flow, which is the best way for us to get there. Ric Prentiss Okay. And last one for me. Obviously, airlines are looking at solutions for in-flight connectivity, particularly free WiFi. We've been hearing from some of the airlines that the Viasat solution for the narrowbody is really good. Starlink isn't as some debate on the widebody. Have you been hearing anything similar from the airline customers of where Starlink might have a solution that they feel is more competitive in a widebody versus narrowbody? Just an update a little bit there. I know you posted something with the presentation today, but that's something we've just been hearing from airlines is narrowbody versus widebody and LEO versus GEO. Mark Dankberg Okay, that's a good question. One of the things that we have really been emphasizing with our airline customers, our quantitative metrics of performance for all their flights. And those metrics can vary depending on routes, and they can vary depending on -- or think of it as picking with widebodies as a number of people on board which leads to the number of we've been pretty focused and actually we rerecord and we can sort those metrics multiple ways: by route, by fleet type, and by widebody versus narrowbody. So I think it's a fair question.I'd tell you our data is right now that for widebodies and narrowbodies, our performance is very close, okay? Narrowbodies a little bit easier. But if you look at the thresholds that our most knowledgeable customers have set, we're meeting those thresholds for both types of other thing that I'd bring up here and we talked a little bit about, well, we mentioned some of the survey results that we got for our ViaSat-3 F1. And one of the really good things about that ViaSat-3 architecture is that we have beams that follow each plane individually. So the amount of bandwidth that we can put into those beams is they're certainly sufficient to serve the largest widebodies with free that's we've given -- we have some of our global customers that are already flying on ViaSat-3 with widebodies. They're seeing those results. I can tell you the customers that we're working with are very pleased with our results with of the points that we like to make is that not all gigabits or not all terabits are the same. You get lots of points for the gigabits that happen to be right over the right on the planes that are being served. That's the whole point of what we're doing with our new satellites. Operator Edison Yu, Deutsche Bank. Edison Yu First question for Mark, maybe a longer-term one. You mentioned in the prepared remarks you are playing to win. And I'm wondering what exactly does that really mean if we think about two, three, four years from now what Viasat that looks like? Is that purely financial? Is it maybe getting back some of these market share in IFC, maritime? What does that look exactly to you winning? Mark Dankberg Well, the big thing that we is growth, right? We're looking -- winning is growth, okay, for us. I think that the markets that we're focused on still have a lot of growth in them. And we've had very strong market shares in both commercial aviation and maritime. Those are tough benchmarks to try to improve on as those markets we're really focused on growth. I think we'll do well on market share. But the big thing -- I think the big thing that we'd like to communicate is it's becoming more and more evident that this is really an economic competition that we can deliver the levels of service that people want. And you think about how that's part of what we're talking about measuring the Hawaii routes, which is interesting because as we bring more bandwidth to market, we will have lots of bandwidth to apply to our customers, especially in these mobility markets. That's our main emphasis, which includes government, aviation, maritime, and we expect to extend that into land then -- so then the big -- the way the competition actually plays out is once you're in an environment where you have unlimited free WiFi for your customers, really the main issue then is who runs out of bandwidth. You just don't -- as long as you don't run out of bandwidth, customers are really happy. But one of the things that we have emphasized for quite a few years is understanding what those geographic and temporal patterns are of demand. And that's what we're intending to serve. That's going to let us compete really other part of it is, once you know what kind of the market pricing is in these markets, whether it's like per boarded passenger per ship, you can work backwards and figure out what it takes to be able to serve those price points out of profit. And so that's one of the things that we've been really focused on as well is having sufficient bandwidth every place and being able to deal, to blend our own bandwidth with third-party bandwidth matched the utilization between supply and demand to peak. So that's part of the playing to vast part of it that is, I think, really important is one of the distinctions in the way we do free for airlines versus the way some others do is that we give the airlines discretion about how to do that. We provide all the platforms that really give them control over the so you'll see, as an example, in the boat that we have for American Airlines, they want to be able to provide those incentives to their best customers, right? And the airlines get advantages by having those customers be members of their frequent flyer program, for instance. So we give them the tools to manage other communication and their connectivity and their entertainment in a way that helps them -- that basically monetize them into come out with a better overall economic solution in an environment where the passengers still get free those are -- and that's really an example of nonprice value. It's right? That's a way that we're really helping the airlines do that. We have very similar strategies in the way we work with our maritime customers and government. I know it's a long answer, but I just wanted to give you a sense of both what it means for us to win and that we feel we have a path to be able to do that as we complete some of the items that we've been working on for quite a while here. Edison Yu Understood. No, appreciate the comprehensive response. A follow-up on the L-band. Obviously, you have a lot of it, and you've articulated earlier in your desire to get more involved and [in an amazing way D2D]. But I think you would probably agree that the providers or the people are trying to do these data competitors is already pretty many of them have much lower cost of capital, while at the same time, spectrum are very scarce. So what kind of conditions would you need to see to maybe try to monetize the actual spectrum itself as opposed to trying to utilize it for service? Mark Dankberg Okay. So there's a lot of -- here's what we'd say. One is, from our perspective, one of the good things is we have pretty significant existing business base in L-band with mobile satellite services. I think one of -- I think it's becoming more clear that having licensed satellite spectrum is really valuable and it's essential in performing the public safety missions that we you look at right now, lots of emphasis on aeronautical safety. That's one of our important missions. More and more emphasis on maritime national security applications, all those things benefit from licensed satellite spectrum. It's also clear that there can be crossover benefits into these D2D markets with that as well. But one of the points I want to make is that because of the public service obligations that we have or the public interest obligations that we have, which we take seriously, being able to evolve those to what their future requirements is, we think it's important. We're undertaking that. And I think it's a good foundation from which to expand our markets into the other terms of how you differentiate going to market, one of the main points that we've made, and I mean I would say one of the main points that we've learned in talking to mobile network operators, automotive manufacturers, all of the big users of what's likely to be a network component to 5G, they want standards-based open architecture solutions so that they don't get locked into a single so one of the main things that we've been doing is this basically to turn this into a competitive environment that's more than who has the most money at any instance at the time. What we're really trying to do is address the customers' needs or desire for those open architecture standards-based solutions. And that is the main reason we helped form the Mobile Satellite Services Association to create the standards that not only allow a terrestrial network to operate with a particular satellite network but to do it with all of them, right, that they can roam among all those, maintain that I think that the ingredients that we're bringing, and I would just want to add one more component that we've talked about there, which has been very important in the terrestrial environment, I think is a big equalizer when it comes to the capital environment, is that of having shared infrastructure, which you see, right, just the way the terrestrial market evolves is that each individual carrier in the nation doesn't have to fund all of the capital. All of the capital itself, that shared capital, helps reduce capital intensity and allows us to what I would say is big three ingredients we talk about is serving our interest through these aeronautical, maritime, and actual security requirements, helping to facilitate this open architecture standards-based environment and then reducing capital intensity through a shared infrastructure. So I think that we're getting really good feedback, but that's a good message to some of the biggest users and customers for the D2D environment. Operator Ryan Koontz, Needham & Company. Matthew Cavanagh This is Matt on for Ryan. Your 2026 outlook is calling for a double-digit strong growth in both the information security and cyber defense and the Space & Mission Systems businesses. Could you maybe just provide some color on what the underlying growth drivers are for those particular business segments? Mark Dankberg Sure. In the -- let's see, you mentioned three. So Space & Mission Systems, Encryption and -- sorry, what was the third one? Lisa Curran Infosec. Mark Dankberg Those two, yes. Okay, yes. So I'll address each of them. So the encryption business, I think one of the ways that the problems being framed is quantum resistant in friction, right? And that's sort of that's contained within the US Department of Defense next-generation encryption initiative. So again, the big issue here is carrying over a very large installed base, mission-critical equipment and migrating that to the next-generation equipment through a refresh one of the things that we've talked about, and we're starting to see is there is a use-by date or an expiration date for the current generation of equipment. So there is, right now, a big focus on refreshing that base as quickly as possible because there is exposure even -- I mean, as we speak of, I would say, security issues that are associated with quantum computing. So there's a lot of emphasis on that. So that is a big then the other thing that is also a good tailwind for us and one where we've been quite successful is it's become quite evident that if you look at these very large constellations, that cyber security is -- it is a single mode of failure that affects the entire constellation. So there is a big focus on cyber security for space, and that is an area that we have a very strong position second one on the Space & Mission Systems, there's a number of things, and you can see some of the programs we've been successful in this is it's not just satellite services that people are looking for in space, but there's definitely needs for technology insertions. And so we've been really quite successful in -- some missions include replacing some of the NASA services or space relay. That's an area that we've gotten off to a good issue -- there's initiatives on standardization of optical inter-satellite links. We've been very successful in a number of situations with high-bandwidth radio frequency inter-satellite links. There's also some specific missions that can't be served by, I'd say, more than commercial dual-use satellites. We've been successful in those areas as of the areas we're pretty excited about on the international front is working with the European Space Agency on the LUNAR relay communications applications. That's the Moonlight program. And then there are also some unique opportunities for us and for other operators that we're participating with for national security applications of some of the bands that we can use for dual-use applications, including L-band. That's kind of a rundown on some of the drivers for us. Operator Colin Canfield, Cantor Fitzgerald. Colin Canfield Maybe focusing on introduction of new geostationary satellites. Can you just kind of walk us through how we should think about the kind of revenue addition of ViaSat-3 F2 and F3 in '27? And maybe just walk us through kind of how you think about the moving pieces of volume versus pricing growth?And then just again, walking that all back to the multiyear EBITDA margin expansion of 200 bps of margin. So it seems like if you think about assuming a relatively flat volume versus price outcome and a little bit of EBITDA, it feels like low single digit is the right earnings growth number for '27, but maybe walk us through kind of how you think about that. Garrett Chase I think I'm going to address the question about the 200 basis points around how we're thinking about it. Across a variety of things that we've seen, we've had the conviction that we've got more to go. We've got more opportunity to go through the when you think about the magnitude of opportunities that we've got in front of us, the importance of the year, in order to maximize those opportunities, we think we really need to move towards more clarity, simplicity being nimble. And we've had a couple of instances.I mean, first, you saw some of the ways in which we're looking at managing integration to reduce capital needs for the future. We've also had some scrums internally on some tough problems that we've worked through. And it's led us to believe that we can operate like that much more routinely. And we've engaged some outsiders to help us think through what the magnitude of opportunity would be, and we're really comfortable that across that two- or three-year time horizon, we'll be able to achieve numbers that would have us in that range in terms of additional margin contribution. Mark Dankberg Just in terms of the ramp, one thing just to put in perspective is each of the Flight 2 and Flight 3, each alone have more bandwidth, more capacity than all of the rest of our existing fleet put together. So it's -- those are big increases in capacity for us. And then the really big things about those two satellites, there's really nothing else like them on the market and their ability to see kind of -- each of them can see a third of the world and has the ability to put bandwidth right in the places where the demand is. So the way that we -- first of all, two things, right? I think one is how is demand winning more platforms. And as you can see, as things like aviation market goes free or in the maritime market, use becomes a dominant use as opposed to operational use, the amount of bandwidth required for platform is growing substantially. And also, what we are seeing is that we're delivering a lot or service. There's improved productivity from the customer's perspective. But just like in the terrestrial world, you're seeing average revenue per platform grow over that time, right?That's how we come out ahead. But think of it as the real competition is not so much who has the most total bandwidth, who has the most bandwidth in the right place at the right time. And you can see, I mean, look, everybody knows Starlink is the one that's trying to lead these markets. But you just look at their own maps that they have on their website and they'll tell you that they have bandwidth in a number of places. And some of those places are really important transportation hubs for maritime and for the big thing for us is we're growing demand through more platforms, more bandwidth per platform, and then we have the flexibility to aim all that capacity right on the platforms that need it at the times that they need it. I think that's a pretty simple formula, but it's actually -- I think it's a little differentiated in the market. Colin Canfield Got it, got it. And appreciate that color. One thing I just want to make sure we understand in terms of clarity. So like in terms of contracted, so like we think of these coming online in '26, and in terms of the full kind of contracted revenue increments from F2 and F3, is there a fair way to think about the contracted additions of revenue growth versus numbers? Mark Dankberg Yes. So think of it as we're not like the traditional satellite operators that usually would talk about, we're buying a new satellite. Here's our backlog commitments or the commitments we have on a transponder by transponder basis for this amount of way our business really works is what you want to look at is how many platforms we have, what the usage and revenue is platform? And think of it as, as we bring more bandwidth to market, we're constantly growing the number of platforms and as we go to as we get more applications per platform, those drive revenue per platform, and that's really the way in which we fill it we are -- think of it as what's really important is to look at those trend lines. And clearly, what you could see if there's one thing that should be evident from what Starlink is doing is that when you decrease the unit cost of bandwidth, the market's grown very substantially, right? That was our premise as we've been a little bit handcuffed or handicapped as we're waiting for these satellites to come out, but that's really going to unlock that for us. I think we've been addressing it effectively in the meantime through adding third-party bandwidth. We're continuing to do that with both LEO and GEO we've got -- a lot of that CapEx is behind us, right? So that's what the opportunity is that we're getting through this in CapEx, but we're getting a lot of inventory. And that's what's going to help drive the cash flow, the big part of what you heard Gary's discussion about. That's what we're focused on. Colin Canfield Got it, got it. And just -- I never do ask a third question. Maybe walk us through the free cash flow building blocks to '27. It seems like the fair way to think about just taking the numbers that you've given us, if we assume like 30% of OCF growth and the CapEx number you've given us, that gets us to maybe $100 million to $200 million of burn in ' then with the tailwinds, so the number you gave us on ViaSat-3 stepping down to $250 million and at some level of margins and working capital, to maybe roughly $300 million total. So is it fair to assume that we could be looking at like a low single-digit hundreds of millions of dollars opportunity for free cash flow in' 27 by that math? Not getting you to sign on for guidance but just making sure our math is correct. Garrett Chase Well, we're not necessarily going to validate your math over new guidance, but you clearly are educated on what some of the right building blocks are. One of the things that we have been really focused on, and you've seen it in Mark's prepared remarks, in mine, it's about the magnitude of opportunity and the underlying meaning of what we're setting out to accomplish in fiscal '26 to position ourselves for a lot of growth beyond that, right? So I think you all know how to think through some of those factors in terms of what they might look like on the EBITDA Mark just said, we're going to have a big lump of CapEx in ViaSat-3 behind us. And one of the things you've seen, we didn't talk about it on this call, was more of a focus last time. The team here has had a tremendous amount of focus on CapEx even in the here and we're all driving towards this goal of reducing the capital intensity of the business. It's resulted in almost $300 million less CapEx over the course of fiscal '25 and '26 from where we started several quarters ago. We're going to continue with that focus. The teams are getting trained on working the things that you're talking about are in line with the kinds of trends that we expect to see, EBITDA growth, focused on things like net working capital, being really disciplined with our capital spending. Those are things that you should expect to continue to see. Operator Louie DiPalma, William Blair. Louie DiPalma Following up on the prior question. Based on what you conveyed with approximately $250 million in ViaSat-3 CapEx this year, is $1 billion a good benchmark for fiscal 2027 CapEx? And would that include $200 million of capitalized interest? Garrett Chase Again, we're not going to give guidance on where we'll land in fiscal '27 just yet. Actually, this year, what your numbers were -- we didn't have the $250 million of CapEx around the closure of the ViaSat-3 system that we'll have next -- in this current fiscal year, fiscal '26. The spending was around $1 billion in total, and there was about $200 million of capitalized interest in that in mind, the capitalized interest is something that we do think will trend down a bit. But we still have satellites under construction so that's not something that's going to disappear from the capital line. Louie DiPalma Right. And secondly, what provides confidence that maritime will inflect in late fiscal '26? Is there continued upsell from your L-band customers? And are you also taking share from like Ku-band maritime competitors? Mark Dankberg Okay. So first thing that was providing confidence is we went through beta trials. We've gone into production. We have a very attractive backlog. It's growing fast even while the inflation rates are growing on what we're calling NexusWave, which is the multiband right now, what we're really looking at, and we're still early days but I'd say that the orders, the rate of which we've got orders, the size of the pipeline, the rate of installs, the existing backlog, all of those are pointing to kind of the sequence of events that we talked about last quarter, which is we should see net vessels stabilize and grow, then we'll see the revenue come from those vessels, and we'll get the revenue side, one of the big things that we've talked about, I think everybody has talked about is the increased usage on board ships going from not just operational but to crew use. So that's really driving -- think of it as an inflow of revenue into the maritime business, which NexusWave is really our first opportunity to capitalize on, right, and to provide that integrated we're seeing good growth in revenue per ship, given the service plans that our customers are adopting. So I think where that's coming from. It's pretty clear that conventional Ku-band doesn't -- just like in aviation, you're going to see, as the demand for vessel increases and then you look at the patterns about where those vessels aggregate, there's really not a lot of future in that, we so we do think that, that one of the ways in which we'll be able to compete really effectively. It's still complicated. I think the thing that, that is really encouraging about what we're doing now is most of our growth is coming directly in our direct sales to fleets. And one of the good things there is it's really a way for us to be close to the customer and just understand what the pull-through is for the parts of our business that go through one of the things that we're working with is we're working with some of our indirect distributors to be able to have them understand what's going on and to be able to make win-win deals and have them come along with us. That's also high on our list. That's another way, I think, that we're starting to see some progress, and we'll see sustained we're talking about kind of going up sequentially in the first half, Q1, Q2, but we should get, later in the year, we should start showing year-over-year revenue growth in maritime. I think that's going to be a really good proof point for what we're talking about is how we can compete in these markets. Did that cover ? Louie DiPalma Definitely, Mark. And one final one, do you expect to play a role in Golden Dome? Mark Dankberg Yes. Yes, I think that -- I mean, the big thing there is the government is not going to outsource. They are not going to outsource everything in that, right? At the end, there's going to be a very substantial component across a whole range of technologies that includes cyber security, sensor fusion, cloud going to be a lot of business across a number of disciplines. A lot of that's going to be in technology, not just services, and we're well positioned across those areas. So we're seeing opportunity there as well. Operator Justin Lang, Morgan Stanley. Justin Lang I'll try to be quick here. Just one on government satcom, I think you mentioned good visibility from the backlog. The business was a nice grower in '25. And I guess the question is, do you see that growth sort of repeating here in '26? Or should it taper a bit just given tougher comps?Just sort of curious how much would offset gov satcom to communication services this year, given some of the early aviation pressures you noted and the dynamics playing out in maritime and broadband, which I think you outlined clearly. Garrett Chase Yes. We expect the growth to taper but we do think it will be up slightly. And at sustained much higher levels of activity, this is a nice margin part of the portfolio so it will be a big contributor this year. Justin Lang Okay, great. And then just a quick housekeeping, Gary, maybe I missed it, but you mentioned leverage to tick up, I think, here modestly in '26 so you got flattish EBITDA and you got the second half free cash flow inflection. So I guess, how should I square that with the sort of delevering priority you laid out? Garrett Chase While the delevering is something that we've got to build, we do need to get through this year and achieve those outcomes that we described. We think once we get beyond this fiscal year and some of the impact of that ViaSat-3 CapEx, we'll be on a much different path in terms of the direction that we're heading. Over the course of this year, we do think that amounts to a slight uptick in that EBITDA over -- or net debt over EBITDA. Operator Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call over to Mark for closing remarks. Mark Dankberg Okay. So we've covered a lot of ground. We've got a lot of good questions. I think I'd just like to just kind of rattle off some of the main themes that we think are really important that we're trying to communicate this quarter. One is we're making good progress or steady on the Flight 2 and Flight 3 of ViaSat-3. And we've got really good data that we think demonstrates the effectiveness of that architecture and the way that we use it on Flight 1. Even though Flight 1 is certainly impaired, it demonstrates the way that we're going to use the I think it also helps demonstrate that not all gigabits or all terabits are the same. You only get points for that bandwidth that is in the place that you need it when you need it. I think that's these mobility markets is a really important thing to remember. We're already seeing good results from that in aviation, and we're having opportunities in we're off to a really good start on the multi-orbit NexusWave service. L-band, I think we're making progress starting in the D2D space but really focused on these next-generation safety services in aviation, maritime and the national security components and then being able to apply these principles that we described before in open architecture, standards-based, the value of dedicated satellite spectrum and then bringing that to market in ways that allow us to reduce capital intensity through multi-tenant shared infrastructure, same as what's happened in the terrestrial space. So that is one of the ways in which we're looking to make sure that we could continue to drive up cash flow through reduced capital pretty proud things are still in flux. But for FY '25, we had record revenue, record EBITDA, record awards. We see good opportunities for growth in operating cash flow that Gary's on through a lot of detail on how we're going to use that to better -- to improve our capital structure. Even this year, we had two quarters of positive free cash flow. Next year, our objective is to exit the year with that sustained positive free cash talked about a flattish FY26. It is. There are some challenges in the macroenvironment. Gary spoke about impact of tariffs, also the issue about OEM deliveries in aviation. That's kind of a macro that we're dealing with, but we feel we're well positioned for growth. We think it is becoming more clear that we can thrive and win in the markets we're thing I just want to say is there's a lot of work, obviously, behind all things we're talking about, and I want to thank all of our employees and teams for the work that they're doing. So thanks again for participating in our call. We'll speak again next quarter. Operator And ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Viasat Inc (VSAT) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Challenges with Strategic Innovations
Revenue: $1.15 billion for Q4 fiscal 2025; $4.5 billion for the full fiscal year 2025. GAAP Net Income: $246 million loss for Q4 fiscal 2025; $575 million loss for the full fiscal year 2025. Adjusted EBITDA: $375 million for Q4 fiscal 2025 with a 32.7% margin; $1.55 billion for the full fiscal year 2025 with a 34.2% margin. Free Cash Flow: Approximately $50 million for Q4 fiscal 2025. CapEx Reduction: Reduced combined fiscal 2025 and 2026 CapEx by close to $300 million. Commercial Aviation: 4,030 service aircraft, up 10%; backlog of 1,600, up 18%. Business Aviation: More than 2,000 service aircraft, up 12% year over year. Maritime Revenue: Down 8% as expected to trough in Q4 fiscal 2025. Government SATCOM Revenue: Growth of 16%. DAT Revenue: Up 11% for Q4 fiscal 2025 and 17% for the full fiscal year 2025. Operating Cash Flow: More than $900 million for fiscal year 2025, over 30% growth from fiscal 2024. Debt Management: Redeemed $443 million of '25 notes post-quarter end; plan to pay down $300 million of Inmarsat Term Loan B during fiscal 2026. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with VSAT. Release Date: May 20, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) achieved record new contract awards growth and met or beat its guidance metrics for fiscal 2025. The company successfully integrated the first ViaSat-3 F1 into its global network, enhancing user experience and network efficiency. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) introduced several network optimization innovations, delivering substantial efficiency and user experience gains. The company made significant progress on its capital structure, reducing capital intensity and enhancing financial transparency with new reporting segments. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) reported solid double-digit growth in operating cash flow and reduced capital expenditures by close to $300 million over fiscal 2025 and 2026. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) reported a GAAP net loss of $575 million for fiscal 2025. The company faced challenges in its US fixed broadband revenue due to capacity constraints, resulting in a 19% year-over-year decline in fixed services and other revenue. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) experienced slower deliveries and backlog in its Commercial Aviation business, impacting growth. The company anticipates modest revenue growth with flattish adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2026, with potential headwinds from macroeconomic factors. Viasat Inc (NASDAQ:VSAT) is dealing with ongoing legal proceedings related to the Ligado bankruptcy, which could impact future cash payments and financial outlook. Q: Can you provide an update on the strategic review process for the Defense and Advanced Technologies segment? Is the process still ongoing, and what is the expected timing? A: Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO: The strategic review is still underway. The business is performing well, and we are assessing its value relative to future cash flows. We are also implementing enhancements to increase its value and competitiveness. We will update if there are any material changes in our approach. Q: What gives you confidence in the early 2026 launch for the ViaSat-3 F2 satellite, and how does this impact your EBITDA guidance? A: Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO: The corrective actions and testing for the F2 satellite are progressing well, and we plan to deliver it to the launch site this summer. The financial outlook remains unchanged despite potential schedule uncertainties. Garrett Chase, CFO, added that ground network costs were not a factor in the EBITDA guidance. Q: Can you provide a timeline and potential magnitude for the Ligado proceedings? A: Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO: The litigation is ongoing, and the public record indicates that we are owed over $500 million. The bankruptcy plan intends to consummate the transaction based on this amount. We cannot comment further on the timeline or magnitude at this point. Q: How do you see Viasat winning in the market over the next few years? A: Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO: Winning for us means growth, particularly in commercial aviation and maritime markets. We focus on delivering economic solutions with sufficient bandwidth to meet customer needs. Our strategy includes leveraging our satellite capacity and providing airlines with tools to manage connectivity and entertainment services. Q: What are the growth drivers for the Information Security, Cyber Defense, and Space & Mission Systems businesses in 2026? A: Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO: Growth in encryption is driven by the need for quantum-resistant solutions and refreshing mission-critical equipment. In Space & Mission Systems, we see opportunities in technology insertions, optical inter-satellite links, and national security applications. Our involvement in the European Space Agency's Moonlight program is also a growth driver. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Viasat Stock Was Surging This Week
According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) stock was up by more than 17% week to date as of early Friday morning. Investors were cheered by news of the next-generation telecom services provider's participation in a large project involving a communications system to enhance coverage far from Earth. Viasat broke the big news on Tuesday, when it divulged that it had officially joined the European Space Agency's (ESA) Moonlight initiative. This is an ambitious program crafted by the agency to develop a lunar-orbiting navigation and communications system. If properly implemented, the system promises to significantly boost these services for moon missions. Viasat said it will be the party tasked with designing and developing the communications network. This will be used by space craft such as lunar landers, orbiters, and other specialty vehicles. The company will also be responsible for establishing the necessary communications infrastructure on both the Earth and the moon's surface. Overall, the Moonlight project's services are to be deployed in a series of phases, aimed at launching initial capability at the end of 2028. The systems should be fully operational by 2030. In the press release trumpeting its participation in the initiative, Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said he and his team are eager to support the project "by leveraging our commercial orientation, network engineering and operational skills, to reliably and securely support future generations of space exploration." Viasat wasn't quite so forthcoming to provide the financial details of its role, saying only that its involvement will be fully funded by the ESA. That's comforting, but investors might have had an even more enthusiastic reaction if they had a good fix on how much the company stands to gain financially from the project. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $295,009!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $42,000!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $523,463!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of March 24, 2025 Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Viasat Stock Was Surging This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Broadcast Pro
26-03-2025
- Business
- Broadcast Pro
Viasat joins ESAs Moonlight project alongside Telespazio
Viasat to lead the lunar orbiting satellite communications portion of ESAs Moonlight Programme, alongside Telespazio and a host of other European and UK companies. Viasat has joined the European Space Agencys (ESA) Moonlight project, partnering with programme lead Telespazio to develop a cutting-edge navigation and communication system for lunar exploration. The Moonlight initiative aims to establish a lunar orbiting network that will enhance communication and navigation services for missions operating both on the Moon's surface and in lunar orbit. This system will function as a data highway, facilitating seamless and efficient communication between astronauts, spacecraft and lunar vehicles, ultimately accelerating scientific research and exploration. Additionally, it is expected to pave the way for commercial activities such as space tourism and lunar resource utilisation. Viasat will play a key role in designing and developing the communication network, leading the definition of end-to-end communication services for lunar landers, rovers and orbiters. The company will also manage the Earth-based ground infrastructure and user terminals on the lunar surface. As the project lead, Telespazio has signed a contract with Viasat for the initial design phase, which is fully funded by ESA during Phase 1. The UK Space Agency, a major contributor to the Moonlight project, has selected Viasat to lead the UKs efforts in delivering the communication capability. The first phase of Moonlight services is set to launch by 2028, with full operational deployment expected by 2030. Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO, Viasat, said: Moonlight is among the most forward-looking and exciting projects undertaken by the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. Viasats participation builds on our heritage of delivering and operating highly innovative and ambitious satellite communication programs. Alongside Telespazio, we look forward to supporting the Space Agencies by leveraging our commercial orientation, network engineering and operational skills, to reliably and securely support future generations of space exploration. Gabriele Pieralli, CEO, Telespazio, added: This marks a pivotal milestone in our commitment to the Moonlight program. By partnering with a global leader in satellite communications, we can harness cutting-edge technologies to create a secure and efficient communications and navigation infrastructure essential for the success of lunar missions. This collaboration reinforces our drive to innovate and deliver comprehensive solutions, paving the way for a new era in lunar exploration and resource utilisation. Laurent Jaffart, ESAs Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications, stated: 'Moonlight is a game-changer for lunar exploration. By providing reliable communications and navigation as a service, we're enabling future missions to dedicate more of their payload capacity to mission-critical instruments. This interoperable infrastructure will significantly enhance mission capabilities while reducing complexity and cost, ultimately accelerating humanity's return to the Moon.' Craig Brown, Investment Director at The UK Space Agency, commented: The Moonlight initiative will showcase Viasats and the UKs leadership in emerging commercial markets such as the lunar economy. Once developed, the service will not only advance our capabilities across satellite communications but also provide reliable navigation and communication services to the growing number of commercial and institutional missions to the lunar surface over the next decade. Viasat is a crucial addition to the Moonlight partnership, and the new lunar economy, driving innovation and creating high-skilled jobs across the country. Giancarlo Varacalli, Head of Telecommunications and Navigation at the Italian Space Agency (ASI), noted: Moonlight is steadily taking shape, and the inclusion of Viasat marks a significant milestone towards the provision of communications and navigation services for future ambitious lunar missions. Italy is proudly at the forefront of this endeavour, with ASI strong support and through its leading industrial excellence, aiming at playing a major role in a sustainable presence on the Moon.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
To the Moon: Viasat Selected to Design Lunar Orbiting Satellite System Alongside Telespazio
Viasat-Moonlight Viasat to lead the lunar orbiting satellite communications portion of ESA's Moonlight Program, alongside Telespazio and a host of other European and UK companies. Project creates Europe's first lunar orbiting satellite network. LONDON, March 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today joined the European Space Agency's Moonlight project ('Moonlight'), alongside program lead Telespazio. Moonlight is the European Space Agency's (ESA) program to develop a lunar orbiting Navigation and Communication system that will greatly enhance combined navigation and communications services for European and international missions both on the surface of the Moon and in lunar orbit. The Moonlight communications system will act as a data highway on and around the Moon, and between Earth and the Moon. People, spacecraft, and lunar vehicles can access that data highway to simplify and speed communications among themselves and back to earth to better enable their scientific and exploration projects including their position over the Moon. Over time, Moonlight is anticipated to support additional commercial activities on the Moon such as space tourism, and manufacturing programs leveraging rare materials found on the lunar surface. Viasat will be responsible for the design and development of the communication network and will lead the definition of the end-to-end communications services: aiming to provide a communications network for lunar landers, rovers, orbiters, and other technology. Viasat will also be responsible for the communication earth ground infrastructure and communication lunar surface user terminals. Telespazio, as Moonlight program lead, has executed a contract with Viasat for the initial design phase of the communication system. This work will be fully funded by the European Space Agency throughout Phase 1. The UK Space Agency, as one of the major contributors to ESA's Moonlight program, selected Viasat to lead the UK ecosystem to deliver the communications capability. Moonlight services will be deployed in phases, targeting initial capability at the end of 2028 with full operations aimed by 2030. Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO, Viasat, said: 'Moonlight is among the most forward looking and exciting projects undertaken by the European Space Agency and the UK Space Agency. Viasat's participation builds on our heritage of delivering and operating highly innovative and ambitious satellite communication programs. Alongside Telespazio, we look forward to supporting the Space Agencies by leveraging our commercial orientation, network engineering and operational skills, to reliably and securely support future generations of space exploration.' Gabriele Pieralli, CEO, Telespazio, said: 'This marks a pivotal milestone in our commitment to the Moonlight program. By partnering with a global leader in satellite communications, we can harness cutting-edge technologies to create a secure and efficient communications and navigation infrastructure — essential for the success of lunar missions. This collaboration reinforces our drive to innovate and deliver comprehensive solutions, paving the way for a new era in lunar exploration and resource utilization.' Laurent Jaffart, ESA's Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications, said: "Moonlight is a game-changer for lunar exploration. By providing reliable communications and navigation as a service, we're enabling future missions to dedicate more of their payload capacity to mission-critical instruments. This interoperable infrastructure will significantly enhance mission capabilities while reducing complexity and cost, ultimately accelerating humanity's return to the Moon." Craig Brown, Investment Director at The UK Space Agency, said: 'The Moonlight initiative will showcase Viasat's and the UK's leadership in emerging commercial markets such as the lunar economy. Once developed, the service will not only advance our capabilities across satellite communications but also provide reliable navigation and communication services to the growing number of commercial and institutional missions to the lunar surface over the next decade. 'Viasat is a crucial addition to the Moonlight partnership, and the new lunar economy, driving innovation and creating high-skilled jobs across the country.' Giancarlo Varacalli, Head of Telecommunications and Navigation at the Italian Space Agency (ASI), said: 'Moonlight is steadily taking shape, and the inclusion of Viasat marks a significant milestone towards the provision of communications and navigation services for future ambitious lunar missions. Italy is proudly at the forefront of this endeavour, with ASI strong support and through its leading industrial excellence, aiming at playing a major role in a sustainable presence on the Moon.' Notes to editors Telespazio - a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%) - is prime contractor for the Moonlight Program, previously signing a €123m contract for the implementation of the infrastructure of the Moonlight programme in late 2024 as part of phase 1 activities. The consortium includes Telespazio as prime contractor responsible for the overall system as well as a pool of companies including Hispasat, Viasat, Thales Alenia Space Italia, SSTL, Qascom, MDA, KSat, Telespazio UK, Telespazio Iberica, SDA Bocconi, POLIMI, CRAS and SIA for the design, implementation and operational qualification of the system. Viasat's involvement in Moonlight as end-to-end communications lead is fully funded by European Space Agency throughout Phase 1. Viasat plans to provide the skillset for its engineering and technology operations from its International Business Headquarters in London. About ViasatViasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. With offices in 24 countries around the world, our mission shapes how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate and connect. Viasat is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, reliable, secure, affordable, fast connections to positively impact people's lives anywhere they are - on the ground, in the air or at sea, while building a sustainable future in space. In May 2023, Viasat completed its acquisition of Inmarsat, combining the teams, technologies and resources of the two companies to create a new global communications partner. Learn more at the Viasat News Room or follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, and YouTube. Copyright © 2025 Viasat, Inc. All rights reserved. Viasat, the Viasat logo and the Viasat Signal are registered trademarks in the U.S. and in other countries of Viasat, Inc. All other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. About TelespazioTelespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%), is one of the world's leading operators in space services: from the design and development of space systems to the management of satellite launch and in-orbit control services; from Earth observation, integrated communications, satellite navigation, and positioning services to scientific programs. The company plays a key role in its reference markets, leveraging over 60 years of technological expertise, infrastructure, and participation in space programs such as Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, COSMO-SkyMed and Moonlight. Telespazio, together with Thales Alenia Space, forms the "Space Alliance" and generated a revenue of €700 million in 2023, with 3,300 employees in fifteen countries. Viasat, Inc. Contacts Richard Jones, Public Relations, Viasat, +44 7843 819 611, Lisa Curran/Peter Lopez, Investor Relations, IR@ Telespazio Press ContactsPaolo Mazzetti, Ph: +39 335 6515994, Ivana Giannone, Ph: +39 337 1024608, Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements that refer to the Moonlight program, future phases of the Moonlight Project and the future potential of the lunar economy. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: unexpected expenses related to our satellite projects; our ability to successfully implement our business plan for our broadband services on our anticipated timeline or at all; risks associated with the construction, launch and operation of satellites and space infrastructure used the Moonlight project, including the effect of any anomaly, operational failure or degradation in satellite performance; our ability to successfully develop, introduce and sell new technologies, products and services; introduction and reliability of new technologies and other factors affecting the communications and space communications generally; the effect of adverse regulatory changes (including changes affecting spectrum availability or permitted uses) on our ability to sell or deploy our products and services; changes in the way others use spectrum; our inability to access additional spectrum, use spectrum for additional purposes, and/or operate satellites at additional orbital locations; competing uses of the same spectrum or orbital locations that we utilize or seek to utilize; In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in our SEC filings available at including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
