Globalstar (GSAT)
Apple prepayments now fund most of Globalstar's satellite build: capex ran at 201% of FY2025 revenue, backed by $869M of deferred revenue from one customer.
Educational analysis for professional use. This profile is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and it is not personalised.
Snapshot
Business Overview
Globalstar is a low earth orbit (LEO) connectivity operator whose economics are dominated by one customer: Apple's wholesale capacity contract. Revenue rose 9% to $273.0M from $250.3M in FY2024, and adjusted EBITDA reached $136.1M on a 50% margin. That combination, positive EBITDA against a GAAP net loss of $8.7M ($8,651K in the 10-K), is typical of the space sector's more mature names. The stock priced at $80.61 on 128.1M shares as of 10 June 2026.
Apple, under its Updated Services Agreements, accounted for 63% of total revenue. That is concentration in a single commercial counterparty, and the recompete risk that follows looks nothing like a US defence re-bid cycle. Deferred revenue totalled $869M ($62.0M current plus $806.9M non-current), largely Apple prepayments that fund constellation spend.
Legacy mobile satellite services (MSS) still matter alongside the Apple contract: subscribers stood at 791,000 at end of period, averaging 782,736 across FY2025. Average revenue per user (ARPU) varies sharply by service, from IoT at $4.21 a month to SPOT at $13.97 and Duplex at $61.39. The business models guide contrasts Globalstar's wholesale Apple leg with Iridium's more diversified subscriber mix.
How the Numbers Read
Capex ran to $550.4M in FY2025, 201% of revenue, the most extreme ratio the constellation capex guide records for the industry's build phase (>50% of revenue). Unlike an equity-funded pre-profit constellation, this build is financed through Apple prepayments, not operating cash burn alone, and $869M of deferred revenue is the balance-sheet trace of that funding.
Globalstar is EBITDA-positive at $136M on $273M revenue, one of the peer cases the EV/sales guide screens. What the next contract cycle actually turns on is constellation capacity and how long the Apple contract runs, more than the FY2025 earnings print itself.
OCF-based runway screens do not apply here, because Globalstar is already OCF positive at the operating level. The real constraint is how prepayment amortisation and capex timing track Apple's volume, a different question from a simple months-of-liquidity-divided-by-burn calculation.
Valuation Framework
Reading Globalstar means reading contract accounting alongside any revenue multiple. Deferred revenue represents multi-year Apple obligations already paid for, so EPS moves mostly on revenue-recognition pace and the contract's take-or-pay mechanics, well ahead of subscriber growth on the legacy MSS base.
Globalstar's Apple share is the highest single-customer revenue concentration in the six-company peer set, well past Iridium (29% government revenue, post-build capex ~11.5%) or Planet (subscription backlog $503.7M, with no single customer near Globalstar's level).
What to Watch in the Financials
Apple revenue share and deferred balance. Apple is 63% of revenue and sits behind $869M of deferred revenue. Any change to agreement terms, volume tiers or prepayment schedules moves revenue and capex funding at the same time, because the two are the same contract.
Capex versus prepayments. At $550.4M, 201% of revenue, build spend is financed through Apple prepayments rather than operating cash; a gap between capex and deferred inflows would need equity or debt regardless of the headline EBITDA margin.
MSS subscriber ARPU mix. Legacy mobile satellite service subscribers, 791K of them, still generate real cash: IoT customers pay $4.21 a month, Duplex customers $61.39. That base funds the network while Apple wholesale scales alongside it.
Adjusted EBITDA margin at 50%. The $136M print holds only if Apple's margin contribution keeps offsetting depreciation as new satellites enter service.
Key Risks
Apple concentration at 63%. A contract reset or volume cut is a majority-revenue event, even though commercial wholesale risk is a different animal from a government recompete.
Prepayment-funded capex cliff. The 201% capex intensity is manageable only while prepayments keep pace with build spend. Let capital deployed outrun deferred revenue release and free cash flow compresses fast.
A small revenue base carrying a large build plan. Constellation capacity and Apple-contract volumes in the build plan run well ahead of $273M FY2025 revenue. Execution delays or service-quality issues bite harder against a base this size than they would at a larger operator.
Space & Satellites Sector Primer
Revenue ramp, margin and capex are the inputs. This primer takes both a pre-profit builder and a profitable operator to a discounted cash-flow value against an EV/sales screen.
The Excel model is the primer's two worked valuations live across 12 sheets: a ten-year free-cash-flow DCF for a profitable operator, and a pre-profit ramp builder that fades losses to a target margin, each with a cash-runway and capex bridge. Change the growth path, the exit multiple or the capex intensity and the value moves.