Planet Labs (PL)
Planet Labs turned its first profitable quarter in FY2025 on adjusted EBITDA, even as the full year stayed in loss with $503.7M of backlog still to convert.
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
Planet Labs monetises earth-observation imagery and analytics as a subscription data business; unlike the other names in this sector, it does not run a connectivity network. FY2025 revenue was $244.4M, up 10.7% from $220.7M, for the year ended 31 January 2025. The full-year adjusted EBITDA loss was $(10.6)M, but Q4 turned adjusted EBITDA positive at +$2.4M, the company's first profitable quarter on that basis. Market capitalisation was roughly $10.7B as of 10 June 2026, on 346.1M Class A and B shares at $30.92.
Backlog stood at $503.7M, with remaining performance obligations (RPO) of $412.8M, 37% of it due within 12 months. The company had 976 customers with 97% recurring annual contract value (ACV), the metric that replaces subscriber ARPU in a data-subscription business like this one. One customer accounted for 19% of FY2025 revenue, and Planet does not file a government-versus-commercial vertical split.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's Luno B contract carries a $200M five-year base ceiling, cited in the FY2025 release; it is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) vehicle, so that ceiling is a cap on potential orders rather than a guaranteed revenue figure. The government backlog guide places Planet alongside Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) contract and Rocket Lab's Space Development Agency (SDA) work as a government data anchor, even though Planet's total backlog still mixes in commercial subscriptions.
How the Numbers Read
Planet's runway math depends entirely on which cash-flow line is used. Liquidity was $222.1M ($118.0M cash plus $104.0M short-term investments), and FY2025 operating cash flow (OCF) used just $(14.4)M, putting OCF-based runway at roughly 15 years ($222M ÷ $14.4M), inside the extended runway range (>36 months) the cash runway guide uses. That guide flags Planet's figure as misleading, because GAAP net loss runs far larger than the OCF burn, so the runway screen should run on OCF rather than net loss.
Capex ran to $49.6M, about 20.3% of revenue, inside the active fleet-refresh range (15-30%) the constellation capex guide sets out. That satellite build spend sits apart from the much smaller OCF burn; the two numbers answer different questions.
Management has said it sees a line of sight to positive cash flow within 24 months. That is guidance, not a number from the filing itself, so it sits in a different category from the revenue and backlog figures above.
Valuation Framework
Planet screens as a pre-profit data-subscription name, where backlog coverage matters more than a straightforward earnings multiple: backlog runs to roughly 2.1 times trailing twelve-month revenue, with the bulk of it locked in through that 97% recurring ACV base. The business models guide sets Planet against Rocket Lab's launch and systems business and Iridium's connectivity model, to show which metrics actually apply to each.
That one quarter does not make a trend on its own. Subscription growth, +11% for the year, and steady backlog conversion both need to continue before the Q4 crossover becomes a sustained path to GAAP profit.
What to Watch in the Financials
Recurring ACV and customer count. With 976 customers and 97% recurring annual contract value, net retention and new-logo growth are what decide whether the $503.7M backlog converts to revenue at the guided pace.
OCF versus GAAP earnings. The gap between $(14.4)M of OCF used and a much larger GAAP net loss is why runway screens on Planet diverge so sharply; lead with OCF for the liquidity math.
Q4 EBITDA crossover. One profitable quarter, +$2.4M against a $(10.6)M full-year loss, is not the same as a trend. Two more positive quarters would be needed before calling this operating leverage.
Single-customer concentration. One customer supplies 19% of revenue, and the NGA Luno B ceiling of $200M layers government exposure on top. Watching the two together against the >30% programme-concentration screen matters more than watching either alone.
Key Risks
Growth doing the heavy lifting. Full-year adjusted EBITDA is still negative, so a slowdown from the current +11% growth rate, with opex held fixed, removes the offset to that loss.
Runway optics. Fifteen years of OCF-based runway overstates comfort once GAAP losses running far larger than OCF burn are accounted for, and the ~20% capex-to-revenue ratio can still call for fresh capital even with liquidity this extended.
Customer concentration. A single customer at 19% of revenue, plus dependence on a government IDIQ contract, means commercial subscription churn in defence-adjacent accounts can move backlog faster than a subscriber-ARPU model would suggest.
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.