What Happened?
Shares of earth imaging satellite company Planet Labs (NYSE: PL) jumped 8.1% in the morning session after an analyst at Wedbush reiterated an "Outperform" rating and significantly raised the price target on the stock.
The analyst boosted the price target by over 54% from $11 to $17. This positive view followed a series of favorable announcements from the company on the previous day. Planet Labs reported that it had shipped new satellites, including its Pelican-5 and Pelican-6 models along with 36 SuperDoves, to a launch site for an upcoming SpaceX mission.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Planet Labs’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 61 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 22 hours ago when the stock gained 6.5% on the news that the company announced it had shipped new satellites for an upcoming SpaceX launch and revealed plans to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Europe.
The company reported that its Pelican-5 and Pelican-6 satellites, along with 36 SuperDoves, have arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Transporter-15 Rideshare mission. Planet's CEO, Will Marshall, stated that "incredible demand" for high-resolution data is fueling this growth. Further bolstering investor confidence, Planet Labs will open a new manufacturing facility in Berlin, Germany, to double the production capacity of its Pelican fleet. This move is a response to strong business growth in Europe, highlighted by a multi-year €240 million agreement with the German government and a key contract with NATO. These developments suggest the company is scaling up to meet rising customer demand for its Earth-imaging data and services.
Planet Labs is up 273% since the beginning of the year, and at $14.81 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Planet Labs’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $1,495.
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