Planet Labs (NYSE:PL) reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue and earnings above Wall Street estimates on Friday, with its defense and intelligence segment growing more than 65% year-over-year, though shares fell more than 19% in morning trading.
The satellite imagery company posted revenue of $94.2 million for the quarter, up 42% from a year earlier and ahead of analyst estimates of $90 million and the company's own guidance range of $87 million to $91 million. Adjusted loss per share came in at $0.03, better than the estimated loss of $0.04.
Remaining performance obligations reached $816 million, up 81% year-over-year, while total backlog exceeded $906 million, a 72% increase, reflecting continued demand from domestic and international government agencies amid a complex geopolitical environment.
Non-GAAP gross margin came in at 56%, well above guidance of 49% to 51%. Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $1 million, beating both the guidance range of negative $6 million to negative $3 million and the Street estimate of negative $5.3 million.
Planet raised its full-year fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to a range of $425 million to $441 million, implying roughly 41% growth at the midpoint and slightly above prior analyst expectations of $427.9 million. Full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance of $0 to $10 million was in line with consensus, while non-GAAP gross margin is expected in the range of 52% to 54%.
For the second quarter, the company guided for revenue of $102 million to $107 million, above consensus of $100.9 million.
The commercial segment grew 20% year-over-year as Planet expanded with large enterprise customers across agriculture and energy using AI-enabled solutions. The company also launched new AI-driven products during the quarter, including tools for querying global data through natural language and a feature called SuperRes, which uses artificial intelligence to improve resolution of its PlanetScope imagery.
Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $50 price target on the stock, calling the results "beats across the board" and pointing to the company's strong RPO and backlog as indicators of visibility into future execution.
Planet ended the quarter with $730.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Recurring annual contract value stood at 99%.