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IRDM · Iridium Communications Inc.

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$50.20 +0.42 (+0.84%) At close · Aug 14
Market Cap
$5.27B
Shares
105.96M
All earnings calls

Earnings call · FY2026 Q1

Iridium Communications Inc. Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

Iridium Communications Inc. Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

Concluded Apr 23, 2026
Apr 23, 2026 53 turns
Period
FY2026 Q1
Runtime
Sources
3 artifacts

Executive readout · one minute

What matters this quarter

Iridium reported Q1 2026 total revenue of $219.1 million, up 2% year-over-year, with service revenue also up 2%, while reiterating full-year guidance and highlighting progress across its four growth pillars: IoT, PNT, national security, and aviation safety.

Spectrum value and competition 43 Capacity and next-generation constellation 29 Iridium 9604 IoT module 27 National security / government missions 13 NTN Direct standards-based service 11 PNT ASIC and growth pipeline 9

Management tone

Confident

Net tone +72 · low hedging

Grounding quotes
  • “We've had a good start to the year, and our results are right where we expected them to be.”
  • “I'm as bullish about meeting those targets as I've ever been.”
  • “we plan to invest in our growth factors”
  • “We're off to a good start in 2026. Partner activity remains strong, and we continue to generate a lot of cash that we plan to invest in our growth factors.”

Research coverage

3 live sources

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Revenue $219.06M +1.9% YoY
Diluted EPS $0.20 -25.9% YoY
Net income $21.59M -29% YoY

Research materials

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Key takeaways

What improved, and what deserves a closer read.

Constructive signals

  • Total billable subscribers grew 5% year-over-year to 2,555,000, led by commercial IoT subscribers up 7% to 2,019,000
  • Commercial IoT data revenue rose 5% to $46.0 million year-on-year
  • Commercial voice and data revenue increased 3% to $57.4 million with ARPU up to $48 from $45, driven by Q3 2025 price actions
  • Service revenue grew 2% to $158.0 million and represented 72% of total revenue
  • New Iridium 9604 tri-mode IoT module on track for June commercial availability; PNT ASIC rolling out in July with over 100 interested companies; seven MNO agreements signed for NTN Direct launch later this year
  • Government service revenue grew 2% to $28.6 million year-on-year

Risks & pressure points

  • Net income declined to $21.6 million ($0.20/diluted share) from $30.4 million ($0.0.27/diluted share) in the prior-year period
  • Operational EBITDA fell to $116.3 million from $122.1 million year-on-year, partly due to a $4.2 million increase in accrued incentive compensation from paying bonuses entirely in cash
  • Commercial broadband revenue declined 5% to $12.2 million and subscribers fell 1% to 16,100 as legacy broadband usage continues to decline
  • Commercial voice and data subscribers fell 2% year-over-year to 399,000
  • Full-year 2026 guidance was only reiterated, not raised, and potential upside from the larger PNT order is not included in the outlook
  • Hosted payload and other data service revenue was down 1% year-on-year to $14.8 million

Key moments

Jump directly to management's words in the synchronized transcript.

“We provided guidance on the revenue potential expected in this area over the next four years, and I'm as bullish about meeting those targets as I've ever been. Some early customers are starting slowly, but they are committed to the big rollout that we've been expecting.” Matthew Desch, CEO

Quarter detail

How the reported period landed and where the business moved.

Revenue · products & services

Service$158.03M +2.4% YoY
Engineering and Support Services$40.81M +8.9% YoY
Subscription And Circulation$20.22M -12.6% YoY

Capital returned

Dividend / share
$0.15
Full-screen source Call document