Viasat Stock Drops 11.9% Despite New Contract with Lockheed Martin
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 5 hours ago
0mins
Source: Fool
- Stock Volatility: Viasat's stock fell 11.9% by midday Monday without an obvious catalyst, indicating market concerns about its future performance, which could undermine investor confidence.
- New Contract Announcement: Viasat revealed a subcontract with Lockheed Martin to provide high-bandwidth Hybrid SATCOM technology for two NOAA C-130J Hurricane Hunter aircraft, enhancing its application potential in meteorological monitoring.
- Potential for Expansion: The contract mentions the possibility of additional aircraft, suggesting Viasat could secure more orders in the future, although the initial contract value remains undisclosed, necessitating close attention to its financial implications.
- Analyst Rating Upgrade: Needham analyst raised Viasat's price target to $90, implying a 25% upside over the next 12 months, highlighting the growth potential of its spectrum assets and defense business, despite the company’s six consecutive years of losses.
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Analyst Views on VSAT
Wall Street analysts forecast VSAT stock price to fall
6 Analyst Rating
4 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 80.620
Low
36.00
Averages
43.80
High
52.00
Current: 80.620
Low
36.00
Averages
43.80
High
52.00
About VSAT
Viasat, Inc. is a global communications company. Its segments include communication services and defense and advanced technologies. The communication services segment provides a wide range of broadband and narrowband communications solutions across government and commercial mobility markets, as well as for residential and enterprise fixed broadband customers. In addition, this segment includes the development and sale of a wide array of advanced satellite and wireless products and terminals that support or enable the provision of fixed and mobile broadband and narrowband services. The defense and advanced technologies segment develops and offers a diverse array of vertically integrated solutions to government and commercial customers, leveraging its core technical competencies in encryption, cybersecurity, tactical gateways, modems and waveforms. Its services are designed to provide customers with the capacity density, market access, speed, bandwidth and responsiveness they need.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Stock Volatility: Viasat's stock fell 11.9% by midday Monday without an obvious catalyst, indicating market concerns about its future performance, which could undermine investor confidence.
- New Contract Announcement: Viasat revealed a subcontract with Lockheed Martin to provide high-bandwidth Hybrid SATCOM technology for two NOAA C-130J Hurricane Hunter aircraft, enhancing its application potential in meteorological monitoring.
- Potential for Expansion: The contract mentions the possibility of additional aircraft, suggesting Viasat could secure more orders in the future, although the initial contract value remains undisclosed, necessitating close attention to its financial implications.
- Analyst Rating Upgrade: Needham analyst raised Viasat's price target to $90, implying a 25% upside over the next 12 months, highlighting the growth potential of its spectrum assets and defense business, despite the company’s six consecutive years of losses.
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- Technology Integration: Viasat has been selected by Lockheed Martin to provide satellite communications technology for NOAA's hurricane hunter aircraft, marking the first formal line-fit integration of its Hybrid SATCOM Approach Technology on the C130J platform, enhancing the aircraft's communication capabilities.
- Future Enhancements: The HSA platform is designed to accommodate multiple antenna apertures, enabling multi-network and multi-orbit connectivity, which allows for future enhancements to the C-130J aircraft, increasing its potential applications in meteorological monitoring.
- Contract Details: Although the financial terms of the contract with Lockheed Martin were not disclosed, this collaboration is expected to contribute to mid-single-digit revenue growth for Viasat, further solidifying its position in the satellite communications market.
- Financial Outlook: Viasat anticipates approximately $180 million in free cash flow for fiscal 2027, indicating the company's financial health and growth potential, particularly through partnerships with major defense contractors.
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- Disappointing Earnings: Viasat reported an adjusted loss of $0.02 per share for Q4 of fiscal 2026, with sales of $1.17 billion, both falling short of Wall Street's expectations for a $0.32 profit per share and revenue targets, indicating significant market pressures on the company.
- Severe Market Reaction: Following the disappointing earnings report, Viasat's stock dropped 7% on Friday, with intraday declines reaching 12.9%, reflecting investor concerns about the company's future growth, particularly amid a broader pullback in the space-tech sector.
- Cautious Outlook: The company anticipates mid-single-digit revenue growth for fiscal 2027, and despite strong demand indicators in the space-tech industry, Viasat failed to demonstrate the robust demand ramp investors were hoping for, which could lead to continued stock volatility.
- Industry Impact Factors: The recent explosion of Blue Origin's rocket launch negatively affected Viasat's stock price, undermining investor confidence in the space-tech sector and further contributing to a cautious outlook regarding Viasat's future prospects.
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- Earnings Miss: Viasat reported an adjusted loss of $0.02 per share for Q4 FY2026, with sales of $1.17 billion falling significantly short of Wall Street's expectation of a $0.32 profit per share, leading to a 7% drop in stock price as investor confidence waned.
- Market Reaction: Following the explosion of Blue Origin's rocket launch, the space-tech sector experienced valuation pullbacks, causing Viasat's stock to drop as much as 12.9% during trading, ultimately closing at $80.62, with a market cap of $12 billion.
- Cautious Outlook: Viasat anticipates mid-single-digit revenue growth for FY2027; however, despite strong demand indicators in the space-tech sector, the company's guidance failed to meet investor expectations, potentially leading to increased volatility in its stock.
- Stable EBITDA Projections: The company expects adjusted EBITDA to remain flat or slightly increase, but this outlook did not alleviate market concerns, further intensifying investor apprehension regarding future performance.
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