Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The technology company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $219.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.39 million. Iridium Communications had a return on equity of 24.01% and a net margin of 13.12%.Iridium Communications’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Iridium Communications’ conference call:

• Iridium’s new Iridium 9604 tri‑mode module is on track for commercial availability in June and is in beta with partners; the small, lower‑cost integration of satellite, cellular and GPS is expected to accelerate IoT subscriber growth and simplify legacy hardware integration.
• The company will roll out its PNT ASIC in July, has received interest from over 100 firms, and continues to target at least $100 million of annual PNT revenue by 2030 as ASIC availability accelerates deployments.
• Iridium NTN Direct is moving toward commercial launch later this year with live over‑the‑air demos and seven mobile network operator agreements to date, positioning Iridium as a standards‑based complement for D2D and IoT roaming use cases.
• Management reaffirmed full‑year guidance (service revenue and operational OIBDA) and highlighted strong cash generation: pro forma free cash flow ~ $318M for 2026, net leverage of 3.4x OIBDA and capacity to invest in growth or M&A.
• Q1 OIBDA fell 5% (a $4.2M quarterly hit) largely from a policy shift to pay annual incentive compensation fully in cash (projected $17M OIBDA impact in 2026), while commercial broadband revenue declined ~5% as customers migrate to lower‑cost backup plans.

Iridium Communications Price Performance

IRDM stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.81. The stock had a trading volume of 2,791,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,361,104. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.80. The company has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.48. Iridium Communications has a 52-week low of $15.65 and a 52-week high of $44.36.

Iridium Communications Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Iridium Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Iridium Communications news, CAO Timothy Kapalka sold 3,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.00, for a total value of $117,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 47,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,480,684. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 107.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 392.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,508 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Iridium Communications in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in Iridium Communications by 10,363.2% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,988 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRDM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Iridium Communications from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Iridium Communications from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. BWS Financial reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Iridium Communications in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Iridium Communications from $25.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Iridium Communications currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.60.

Iridium Communications Company Profile

Iridium Communications Inc operates a global satellite communications network that delivers voice and data services across land, sea and air. The company’s unique architecture relies on a constellation of 66 low-Earth orbit satellites, enabling real-time connectivity in regions beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless networks. Iridium’s core offerings include satellite voice and messaging services, broadband data terminals, push-to-talk (PTT) interoperability and machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Iridium serves a diverse range of markets, including maritime shipping, aviation, government and defense, energy, and enterprise.