Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

Intuitive Machines, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUNR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 37,262 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the typical volume of 20,315 call options.

Intuitive Machines News Summary

Investors following LUNR have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue reached a record $269.35 million, exceeding analyst expectations, and the company reported positive cash flow and a record $1.9 billion backlog across civil, commercial and defense work. These results support the case that its expanding space business is generating substantial demand. Intuitive Machines third-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s 2026 revenue forecast of $920 million to $950 million is broadly in line with the roughly $920 million consensus, offering little clear change to near-term expectations. Q3 earnings call and outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the quarter’s strong revenue and backlog, LUNR remains loss-making, and Roth’s substantial target reduction signals greater caution about valuation or execution risks.

Intuitive Machines Price Performance

NASDAQ LUNR opened at $13.00 on Friday. Intuitive Machines has a 52-week low of $7.78 and a 52-week high of $46.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $12.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.26.

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $269.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.90 million. On average, analysts predict that Intuitive Machines will post -0.60 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Intuitive Machines

In other news, SVP Timothy Crain, II sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.05, for a total transaction of $752,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 351,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,286,748.95. This represents a 12.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Vontur sold 3,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.13, for a total value of $49,196.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 113,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,838,771.61. This represents a 2.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 391,263 shares of company stock worth $6,077,802. Company insiders own 54.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Intuitive Machines in the third quarter valued at $4,397,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Intuitive Machines by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 599,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,542,000 after purchasing an additional 68,317 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Intuitive Machines during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Machines by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 7,150 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Intuitive Machines by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 11,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on LUNR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Intuitive Machines in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Intuitive Machines from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Intuitive Machines in a report on Monday, September 21st. Roth Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Intuitive Machines from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Intuitive Machines from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

About Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines is a space exploration and infrastructure company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It develops and operates lunar landers and provides services intended to support missions to the Moon and other space destinations. The company’s offerings include lunar payload delivery, spacecraft and mission operations, and communications and data services. Its Nova-C lunar lander is designed to carry scientific instruments and other customer payloads to the lunar surface, including through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.