Why Did Intuitive Machines Stock Bounce Back?
Key Points
Cantor Fitzgerald predicted Intuitive Machines would win the NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) contract.
But Intuitive Machines did not win in.
Now, Cantor seems to think the contract didn't matter much anyway.
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Easy come, easy go... easy come again?
Shares of Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) soared to nearly $45 in afternoon trading yesterday before plunging 27% in a matter of minutes. By the time trading ended, Intuitive stock had recovered some of its losses -- but lost all of its gains. The shares closed down 8.9% yesterday.
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Wednesday is a different story. Shares of the space stock recovered strongly, surging 14% through 12:30 p.m. ET today. A renewed vote of confidence from Wall Street analyst Cantor Fitzgerald may be the reason.
Image source: Getty Images.
Why Cantor (still) loves Intuitive Machines
Yesterday, a bullish note from Cantor Fitzgerald sparked Intuitive Machines' rise. Citing multiple upcoming contracts the company is bidding on, as well as a powerful earnings report earlier in the month, Cantor raised its price target on Intuitive to $43 per share. Today, Cantor reiterated its confidence in Intuitive stock.
But now here's where things get weird.
One of the biggest reasons Cantor cited yesterday, for backing Intuitive Machines, was its "confiden[ce]" that NASA would soon award Intuitive Machines a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) contract worth up to $4.6 billion. Just hours after Cantor made that prediction, though, it was proven wrong when NASA announced it has chosen rover designs from private space companies Astrolab and Lunar Outpost instead.
Cantor makes some edits
In today's note, Cantor reiterates its support for Intuitive Machines -- but makes no mention of the LTV contract at all. Cantor cites everything else in Intuitive's favor, upcoming IM-3, -4, and -5 lunar lander missions, the Andromeda space force contract -- even Golden Dome -- but not a word about LTV.
The $43 price target, though? That's unchanged, despite Cantor's biggest reason for choosing it having just vanished into thin air. Go figure.
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Rich Smith has positions in Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Intuitive Machines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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