Forget the SpaceX IPO. Thursday Is Space Earnings Day for Space Stocks BlackSky, Redwire, and Rocket Lab
Key Points
SpaceX will IPO this year -- but not yet.
BlackSky, Redwire, and Rocket Lab are three space stocks that have already IPO'ed -- and are already available for investment.
All three space stocks plan to report earnings in the next 24 hours.
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Everyone seems to be excited about the upcoming SpaceX IPO. Valued at a rumored $1.75 trillion, the initial public offering of Elon Musk's space company -- with social media platform X and artificial intelligence company xAI thrown in for good measure -- promises to be the biggest IPO in history.
But here's the thing: The SpaceX IPO won't happen till at least one month from now, and probably two or three months in the future. No one knows the official IPO date just yet. Meanwhile, three other space companies that you can already buy right now are gearing up to report their latest earnings.
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Over the next 24 hours, investors will get the latest earnings news from BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY), Redwire (NYSE: RDW), and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB). Here's what you need to know about each.
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BlackSky Q1 earnings
A specialist in AI-enhanced satellite imagery, BlackSky operates a constellation of Earth observation satellites that is on track to become "the world's largest very high-resolution constellation by the end of 2026." Other imaging companies, such as Planet Labs (NYSE: PL), offer more constellations but at lower resolutions. BlackSky's satellites can provide detailed images of objects as small as 35 cm across, whereas Planet Labs provides images wit hresolution of 200 cm to 300 cm.
From a financial perspective, BlackSky is still the smaller company, valued at just $1.3 billion -- one-tenth of Planet's $13 billion market capitalization. And don't expect tomorrow's report to change that dynamic. Reporting Q1 earnings Thursday morning, analysts expect BlackSky to report an 8% year-over-year drop in sales to $27.3 million, and a 10% increase in losses. That amounts to $0.40 per share.
Redwire Q1 earnings
BlackSky operates satellites in orbit, but Redwire makes the parts that enable them to perform. The company manufactures solar arrays to power satellites, sensors, and cameras so they can see where they're going. It also produces docking systems so they can connect to their destinations upon arrival, and many other pieces of space-rated equipment. In a bit of bet-hedging, Redwire also expanded into the red-hot drone space last year, acquiring Edge Autonomy for $925 million -- diversifying its business and giving its annual sales figure a dramatic boost.
How big a boost? Investors will find out when Redwire reports its Q1 results at 4 p.m. ET today. Analysts expect the company to remain unprofitable and forecast a loss of $0.17 per share. Sales, however, should boom -- up as much as 70% year over year to $104.6 million.
Rocket Lab Q1 earnings
Last but not least -- indeed, arguably it's one of the most popular space stocks next to SpaceX itself -- is the company that many investors believe will become the next SpaceX, and the one that gives them a chance to buy a SpaceX doppelganger at an earlier stage in its development.
Like SpaceX -- and as its name implies -- Rocket Lab builds rockets. The small Electron two-stage launch vehicles are capable of lifting a few hundred kilograms of payload to orbit for the time being, but sometime later this year, Rocket Lab aims to debut its new Neutron rocket, which can carry literal tons of cargo to orbit, much like SpaceX's Falcon rockets already do. Also like SpaceX, though, Rocket Lab has already evolved beyond just rockets to create an even bigger division that complements the rocket business.
By 2022, Rocket Lab was already generating more revenue from selling "space systems" (satellite parts such as those Redwire provides, kick-stage engines for putting satellites into the correct orbit, and even entire satellites) than it was from Electron launches. Today, the space systems unit generates twice the sales of Rocket Lab's launch services division -- and generates about 50% more gross profit besides.
Rocket Lab will report last of these three space stocks, with Q1 results due out at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. Analysts expect steady improvement in results, with losses declining by about one-third to $0.08 per share and sales rising 54.5% to $189.4 million.
Tune in tomorrow to see if Rocket Lab can hit those marks.
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Rich Smith has positions in Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends BlackSky Technology, Planet Labs PBC, Redwire, and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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