TLDR
- Planet Labs reported Q2 revenue of $116.1 million, beating the $104.5 million Wall Street estimate, up 58% year over year.
- Adjusted EBITDA came in at $13.9 million, well above the $2.3 million consensus.
- Defense and intelligence revenue now makes up 70% of total revenue, up from 57% a year ago, and nearly doubled to $81 million.
- Q3 revenue guidance of $101 million to $105 million came in below the $114 million analyst estimate.
- PL stock was up around 11% in premarket trading Friday at $20.44, after dropping more than 8% on Thursday ahead of results.
Planet Labs posted Q2 revenue of $116.1 million, up 58% year over year, comfortably beating the Street’s $104.5 million estimate. Adjusted EBITDA hit $13.9 million versus expectations of just $2.3 million.
PLANET LABS $PL Q2’27 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS
🔹 Revenue: $116.1M (Est. $104M) 🟢; +58% YoY
🔹 Adj. EPS: $0.02 (Est. -$0.02) 🟢
🔹 Adj. EBITDA: $13.9M (Est. $1.6M) 🟢; +117% YoY
🔹 Non-GAAP Gross Margin: 59%; -200 bps YoYFY27 Guide:
🔹 Revenue: $430M-$441M (Est. $436M) 🟡
🔹… pic.twitter.com/KwkrE7KylZ— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) September 3, 2026
The earnings per share came in at 2 cents on a non-GAAP basis, against a consensus estimate of a loss of 2 cents. That’s a clean beat across the board.
Defense and intelligence revenue surged more than 90% year over year, pushing the segment to 70% of total revenue, up from 57% a year ago. In dollar terms, defense revenue nearly doubled to around $81 million.
Commercial revenue grew more than 15%, while civil government revenue increased more than 5%. Geographically, Europe, the Middle East and Africa led the way with revenue jumping more than 130%.
Planet Labs also locked in an $8 million contract with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for its Global Monitoring Service. The company also landed a seven-figure European defense deal and a German government satellite-services tender worth up to 25 million euros over five years.
Backlog rose 11% year over year to $815 million. Remaining performance obligations climbed 9% to around $753 million. Based on backlog alone, Planet Labs expects to recognize more than $400 million in revenue over the next four quarters.
Q3 Guidance Disappoints
The company guided Q3 revenue of $101 million to $105 million, below the $114 million analyst estimate. Management also expects a Q3 EBITDA loss of roughly $3.5 million, while Wall Street was projecting positive EBITDA of $2.5 million.
Citi analyst John Godyn flagged that some of the Q2 beat came from business pulled forward from Q3, which explains part of the guidance shortfall. He still described the investment thesis as “intact.”
Needham analyst Ryan Koontz noted revenue in Q2 benefited from earlier-than-expected recognition tied to Sweden’s first sovereign satellite. Combined Q2 actual and Q3 estimated revenue growth remained at 42% year over year.
Full-Year Outlook
Planet Labs raised the low end of its fiscal 2027 revenue outlook to $430 million from $425 million, keeping the high end at $441 million. Analysts currently expect $435.67 million.
The company is targeting the Rule of 40 in fiscal 2027, based on revenue growth plus adjusted EBITDA margin.
Adjusted gross margin dipped slightly to 59% from 61% a year ago, due to investments in satellite services contracts and AI-enabled partner solutions.
Year to date, the company generated about $68 million in operating cash flow. Free cash flow totaled $21 million, with adjusted free cash flow reaching $29 million.
Planet Labs ended the quarter with roughly $865 million in cash and short-term investments, and raised around $120 million through its at-the-market offering at an average net price of $31.95 per share.
The company has identified more than $4 billion in satellite-services opportunities in its pipeline.
PL stock was down about 1.25% at $18.12 at time of publication Friday, after gaining more than 11% in premarket trading. The stock has risen more than 180% over the past 12 months.
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