Iridium Communications Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
The operating business is robust: $871.7 million of revenue in fiscal 2025 (up 5 percent), $114.4 million of net income, and with $634.0 million of recurring service revenue 73 percent of sales come from standing contracts; commercial IoT keeps growing with 1.998 million subscribers. Nothing supports red: equity is positive at $462.6 million, there is no going-concern doubt, and the term loan does not mature until September 2030. Three things rule out green. First, leverage: a $1.77 billion term loan and net debt at roughly 3.8 times operating earnings before depreciation. Second, the hollowed-out balance sheet: years of buybacks — $186.5 million in 2025 alone, paused since October 2025 — shrank equity from $1,128.6 million in 2022 to $462.6 million, with an accumulated deficit of $418.6 million in retained earnings. Third, two open structural questions: the EMSS government contract worth $110.5 million a year expires in September 2026 and is being renegotiated, and SpaceX acquired spectrum in 2025 for a competing satellite-to-handset service.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Operationally Iridium is a fundamentally sound satellite business: 66 low-earth-orbit satellites, 73 percent recurring service revenue, a growing IoT business and roughly $300 million of free cash flow. But the stock is currently not a fundamentals case, it is a takeover case: on June 28, 2026 Iridium signed an offer from Rocket Lab ($27.00 cash plus stock) — the roughly 216 percent rally is essentially that premium. Underneath sit $1.77 billion of debt, equity shrunk by buybacks to $462.6 million (still positive), a government contract covering 29 percent of revenue heading into renegotiation, and SpaceX and Starlink as a new rival. A takeover offer is not a business model. Not investment advice.
Business model & recurring revenue
A fundamentally sound network business: 66 low-earth-orbit satellites with global coverage, 73 percent recurring service revenue ($634.0 million), a growing IoT business (1.998 million subscribers, revenue up 9 percent), a 27 percent operating margin and roughly $300 million of free cash flow. Revenue that returns predictably three quarters of the time.
Rocket Lab takeover (special situation)
The dominant special situation: a merger agreement signed June 28, 2026 with Rocket Lab ($27.00 cash plus Rocket Lab stock, board unanimous, termination fee $223.6 million, outside date in 2027). The roughly 216 percent gain is essentially that premium. Opportunity and risk at once: the deal sets a price anchor but can fail, and part of the price is a more speculative Rocket Lab share.
Debt & equity
Term loan $1.77 billion (due September 2030), net debt roughly 3.8 times EBITDA. Years of buybacks shrank equity from $1,128.6 million (2022) to $462.6 million (2025), with an accumulated deficit of $418.6 million in retained earnings. Equity is still positive (no insolvency signal) but thin — buybacks paused since October 2025.
Government concentration & competition
Two structural findings: the U.S. government accounts for 29 percent of revenue, and the EMSS contract ($110.5 million a year) expires in September 2026 with terms still open. At the same time SpaceX and Starlink are pushing satellite-to-handset (D2D) services into parts of the market, with far greater capital and reach — even though Iridium counters with NTN Direct.
Valuation & price
Not cheap on fundamentals: EV/EBITDA around 16, price-to-earnings around 44, free cash flow yield roughly 5.5 percent, dividend about 1.2 percent (mid-2026). But the metrics are secondary while the offer stands: the price orients on $27.00 in cash plus the value of the Rocket Lab shares. Entering is a deal bet, not a classic valuation bet.
Worth Noting
Correction carried over in this re-edition: the German chart plotted shareholders' equity of $1,124.6 million against the 2023 label. The SEC XBRL series gives $1,128.6 million for 2022 and $888.1 million for 2023 — the German figure matched neither year. Both language versions now use the XBRL series for 2022 to 2025, so every bar traces back to a filed annual report.
Price and valuation figures are dated to mid-2026 (market capitalisation ~$5.4bn, EV ~$7.0bn, EV/EBITDA ~16, P/E ~44); annual figures refer to fiscal 2025 and quarterly figures to Q1 2026. Analyses are evergreen and daily prices are not a buying argument. The roughly 216 percent gain over six months is essentially the takeover premium, not operating momentum.
Special-situation screening: the pending Rocket Lab takeover (merger agreement June 28, 2026, 8-K dated June 29, 2026) is the dominant special situation; in addition an 8-K dated July 7, 2026 covers the increased Aireon stake and related debt. Otherwise no material litigation, no material weakness and no current activist — only passive SC 13G holders (BlackRock 12.4 percent, Baralonco 9.9 percent).
AI classification: neutral (documented negative finding). Iridium mentions artificial intelligence only defensively, as a generic competitive and adaptation risk in Item 1A — the company must integrate AI into processes and products as well as competitors do — with no concrete AI revenue source and no documented operational AI use. That is enough for neither "sells" nor "uses" nor "threatened".
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 29, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at IRDM since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 15.80 $ to 55.70 $ · Last price: 47.50 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Telecom Services
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iridium Communications Inc IRDM | 5.0 | 49.5 | 15.6 | 71.9 | 23.2 | 4.9 | 163.5 |
| Verizon Communications Inc VZ | 199.1 | 12.3 | 8.3 | 59.5 | 25.2 | 2.5 | 16.8 |
| AT&T Inc. T | 178.8 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 59.7 | 22.7 | 2.7 | -10.0 |
| T-Mobile US Inc TMUS | 175.8 | 18.0 | 9.7 | 63.1 | 24.0 | 8.5 | -29.0 |
| Comcast Corp CMCSA | 81.2 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 69.4 | 13.2 | 0.0 | -21.0 |
| EchoStar Corporation SATS | 28.2 | – | 20.1 | 27.1 | 8.9 | -5.2 | 313.2 |
| EchoStar Corporation ECHO | 27.3 | – | 20.1 | 29.5 | 14.3 | -5.2 | 33.9 |
| Charter Communications Inc CHTR | 19.9 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 55.2 | 23.9 | -0.6 | -50.2 |
| Millicom International Cellular SA TIGO | 16.2 | 13.7 | 8.0 | 76.6 | 21.8 | 0.3 | 116.7 |
| Median of companies shown | 28.2 | 12.3 | 8.3 | 59.7 | 22.7 | 0.3 | 16.8 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 434 | 176 | 111 | 1.16 | 225 | 1,344 | 3,500 |
| 2017 | 448 | 101 | 234 | 2.38 | 260 | 1,596 | 3,782 |
| 2018 | 523 | 42 | -13 | -0.12 | 264 | 1,602 | 4,014 |
| 2019 | 560 | 10 | -162 | -1.29 | 198 | 1,459 | 3,624 |
| 2020 | 583 | 35 | -56 | -0.42 | 250 | 1,419 | 3,361 |
| 2021 | 615 | 46 | -9 | -0.07 | 303 | 1,288 | 3,181 |
| 2022 | 721 | 77 | 9 | 0.07 | 345 | 1,129 | 2,954 |
| 2023 | 791 | 119 | 15 | 0.12 | 315 | 888 | 2,662 |
| 2024 | 831 | 203 | 113 | 0.94 | 376 | 577 | 2,671 |
| 2025 | 872 | 236 | 114 | 1.06 | 400 | 463 | 2,531 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 0.31 | 1.70 | 213 | 9.40 | 17.10 | 105 | 81 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.27 | 73.40 | 215 | 5.40 | 14.20 | 61 | 37 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.20 | -23.90 | 217 | 7.90 | 10.10 | 130 | 109 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.35 | 68.50 | 227 | 6.70 | 16.40 | 101 | 79 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.24 | -24.70 | 213 | 0.00 | 11.70 | 109 | 75 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.20 | -26.30 | 219 | 1.90 | 9.90 | 72 | 42 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.09 | -55.00 | 225 | 3.80 | 4.30 | 114 | 92 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 15 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Momentum & Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- High ADR (≥5%)
- Mark Minervini: Trend Criteria — 1 Month
- Mike Webster: Swing Trading List
- Oliver Kell: Doublers
- Power Trend
- RS Leader (≥90)
- Richard Moglen: 1 Week Top Performers
- Richard Moglen: Top Performers 3/6 Month
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 1.08 | 1.08 – 1.08 | 939 | 1.5% | 1 |
| 12/31/2027 | 1.72 | 1.46 – 1.97 | 995 | 58.8% | 2 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly 5.8% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $288.3M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $5.03B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $508.4M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 53.3% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow grew by 7.3% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Geprüft am 10.07.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) 2025 (eingereicht 12.02.2026) und die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q) sowie den 10-K 2024: In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings von Iridium Communications findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug im Sinne des Kriterienkatalogs. Künstliche Intelligenz taucht ausschließlich als generischer Anpassungs-/Wettbewerbsrisikofaktor im Item 1A des 10-K 2025 auf — Iridiums Geschäft könne beeinträchtigt werden, falls das Unternehmen KI nicht so gut in Prozesse, Produkte und Dienste integriere wie Wettbewerber. Das ist eine Boilerplate-Anpassungsfloskel ohne konkreten Bezug zum eigenen Geschäftsmodell und begründet nach der Vorrang-Regel kein 'bedroht'. Es gibt weder eine KI-Umsatzquelle (kein KI-Produkt in Item 1 Business/MD&A) noch einen belegten operativen KI-Einsatz ('machine learning' wird nicht genannt). Der strukturelle Wettbewerbsdruck durch SpaceX/Starlink betrifft Satelliten-Direkt-zum-Gerät-Dienste (D2D), nicht KI. Damit bleibt es beim dokumentierten Negativ-Befund: neutral.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-04-23 · 10-Q 2025-10-23 · 10-Q 2025-07-24 · 10-Q 2025-04-22 · 10-K 2026-02-12 · 10-K 2025-02-13
Rated on July 10, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 6.5%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 4.7%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -6.1%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 39.3%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 77.3%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 3.9%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 3.8 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 848 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 9.8%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 12.3%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
6/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 8.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 6.8%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 3.3%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 27.2%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 7.1x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 94.3%
- Return on equity > 15% 41.3%
- ROCE > 15% 9.8%
- Expected return > 10% 34.7%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Last Timothy James | EVP, Sales & Marketing | Sell | 5,769 | 46.35 | 267,393 |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Last Timothy James | EVP, Sales & Marketing | Sell | 2,013 | 47.36 | 95,336 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | O'Neill Vincent James | Chief Financial Officer | Other | 1,461 | 46.98 | 68,638 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Kapalka Timothy | CAO Iridium Satellite LLC | Other | 693 | 46.98 | 32,557 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Last Timothy James | EVP, Sales & Marketing | Other | 1,501 | 46.98 | 70,517 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | McBride Suzanne E. | Chief Operations Officer | Other | 3,623 | 46.98 | 170,209 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Scheimreif Scott | EVP-Government Programs | Other | 2,207 | 46.98 | 103,685 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Desch Matthew J | Chief Executive Officer | Other | 9,583 | 46.98 | 450,209 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Morgan Kathleen A. | Chief Legal Officer | Other | 2,053 | 46.98 | 96,450 |
| Aug 20, 2026 | McBride Suzanne E. | Chief Operations Officer | Other | 17,403 | 0.00 | – |
The company
About the Company
Iridium Communications Inc. bietet mobile Sprach- und Datenkommunikationsdienste und -produkte für Unternehmen, die US-Regierung und ausländische Regierungen, Nichtregierungsorganisationen und Verbraucher in den USA, Kanada und international an.
- CEO Insider Trades (12 Mo.)
- buying own stock
- Employees
- 975
- Headquarters
- McLean, VA
- Address
- 1676 International Drive, 22102 McLean, United States
- Phone
- 703-287-7400
- Website
- iridium.com
- IPO Date
- 03/20/2008
- ISIN
- US46269C1027
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew J. Desch | CEO & Director | 1958 |
| Vincent J. O'Neill | Chief Financial Officer | 1966 |
| Suzanne E. McBride | COO & Director | 1969 |
| Kathleen A. Morgan | Chief Legal Officer & Company Secretary | 1968 |
| Scott T. Scheimreif | Executive Vice President of Government Programs | 1969 |
| Gregory D. Pelton | Chief Technical Officer | – |
| Kenneth B. Levy | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Timothy J. Last | Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing | 1968 |
| Donald L. Thoma | Executive Vice President of Aireon | 1962 |
| Michael L. O'Connor Ph.D. | Executive Vice President of Positioning, Navigation & Timing Division | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 09/15/2026 Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/10/2026 Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM): Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/22/2026 Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 07/07/2026 Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM): Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement; Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant; Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Regulation FD Disclosure; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.