Iridium Clocks 22% Revenue Growth In Q1 Backed By Subscriber Strength; Shares Soar

Iridium Communications Inc IRDM reported first-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 22% year-on-year to $205.27 million, beating the consensus of $188.10 million.
Total billable subscribers rose 15% Y/Y to 2.05 million, driven by growth in commercial IoT customers.
Service revenue rose 10.5% Y/Y to $139.35 million. Revenue from equipment sales and engineering and support projects was $66 million.
Commercial service revenue was $112.85 million, up 13% Y/Y. Commercial broadband revenue was up 17% Y/Y to $13.4 million.
Hosted payload and other data service revenue was $15 million, up 2% Y/Y.
Government service revenue was $26.5 million, flat Y/Y.
Operational EBITDA (OEBITDA) for the quarter was $111.9 million, up 8.4% Y/Y.
Net income was $9.8 million, as compared to net income of $2.8 million a year ago.
EPS jumped 300% to $0.08 in Q1. Analysts expected the company to break even in the quarter under review.
Capital expenditures were $22.9 million in 1Q. The company ended the quarter with gross debt of $1.5 billion and a cash and equivalents balance of $126.6 million.
FY23 Outlook: The company reiterated its full-year 2023 outlook. The company expects total service revenue growth between 9% and 11%, with OEBITDA of $455 million - $465 million.
Cash taxes are expected to be negligible through approximately 2024.
Price Action: IRDM shares traded higher by 7.04% at $62.77 on the last check Thursday.

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