Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL)

Sector: Industrials Industry: Aerospace & Defense CIK: 0001836833
Market Cap 7.01 Bn
P/B 20.04
P/E -54.07
P/S 24.80
ROIC (Qtr) -12.58
Div Yield % 0.00
Rev 1y % (Qtr) 32.62
Total Debt (Qtr) 461.35 Mn
Debt/Equity (Qtr) 1.32

About

Planet Labs PBC, also known as Planet, operates in the Earth observation industry, offering satellite imaging and analytics services to a diverse clientele. The company's mission is to image the Earth every day, making global change visible, accessible, and actionable. Planet's primary business activities revolve around its fleet of satellites, designed to capture daily images of the Earth at medium and high resolution. This data, amounting to an average of 2,700 images per point on Earth's landmass, is then processed and analyzed using machine...

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Price action

Investment thesis

Bull case

  • Healthy cash reserves of 444.25M provide 55.93x coverage of short-term debt 7.94M, demonstrating strong liquidity position and minimal refinancing risk.
  • Operating cash flow of 107.42M provides exceptional 105.31x coverage of interest expenses 1.02M, showing strong debt service capability.
  • Short-term investments of 233.97M provide solid 1.32x coverage of other current liabilities 177.20M, indicating strong liquidity.
  • Tangible assets of 920.51M provide robust 5.19x coverage of other current liabilities 177.20M, indicating strong asset backing.
  • Free cash flow of 34.75M provides exceptional 34.06x coverage of interest expense 1.02M, showing strong debt service ability.

Bear case

  • Operating cash flow of 107.42M barely covers its investment activities of (201.84M), with a coverage ratio of -0.53, indicating heavy reliance on external financing for growth which may not be sustainable in a tighter credit environment.
  • Investment activities of (201.84M) provide weak support for R&D spending of 97.51M, which is -2.07x, suggesting potentially insufficient investment in innovation relative to other capital deployment.
  • Operating cash flow of 107.42M provides insufficient coverage of deferred revenue obligations of 194.19M, which is 0.55x, raising concerns about future service delivery capabilities.
  • The company's operating cash flow of 107.42M shows concerning coverage of stock compensation expenses of 51.49M, with a 2.09 ratio indicating potential earnings quality issues.
  • Operating earnings of (125.23M) show weak coverage of depreciation charges of 40.88M, with a -3.06 ratio indicating high capital intensity and potential reinvestment needs.

Peer comparison

Companies in the Aerospace & Defense
S.No. Ticker Company Market Cap P/E P/S Total Debt (Qtr)
1 GE General Electric Co 342.94 Bn 42.54 7.80 20.84 Bn
2 RTX RTX Corp 252.05 Bn 38.24 2.93 40.71 Bn
3 BA Boeing Co 174.43 Bn -17.16 2.16 53.35 Bn
4 LMT Lockheed Martin Corp 126.61 Bn 30.15 1.73 22.19 Bn
5 GD General Dynamics Corp 95.62 Bn 22.69 1.86 8.01 Bn
6 NOC Northrop Grumman Corp /De/ 89.30 Bn 22.22 2.18 16.96 Bn
7 HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc. 88.16 Bn 60.80 11.05 3.19 Bn
8 TDG TransDigm Group INC 80.97 Bn 43.39 9.17 30.02 Bn

Industry comparisons

Current Valuation Value Ind Avg Percentile
EV to Assets EV to Assets 6.18 3.58
EV to Cash from Ops. EV/CFO 63.64 58.38
EV to Debt EV to Debt 14.82 98.04
EV to EBIT EV/EBIT -54.58 19.42
EV to EBITDA EV/EBITDA -182.02 33.60
EV to Free Cash Flow [EV/FCF] EV/FCF 196.73 91.66
EV to Market Cap EV to Market Cap 0.98 1.13
EV to Revenue EV/Rev 24.20 11.27
Price to Book Value [P/B] P/B 20.04 4.81
Price to Earnings [P/E] P/E -54.07 31.79
Dividend Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Dividend Coverage Ratio Dividend Coverage Ratio 0.00 -3.75
Dividend Payout Ratio % Div Payout % (Qtr) 0.00 22.95
Dividend per Basic Share Div per Share (Qtr) 0.00 0.70
FCF Dividend Payout Ratio % FCF Div Payout % (Qtr) 0.00 14.15
Interest Coverage Int. cover (Qtr) -122.78 -18.00
Growth Metrics Value Ind Avg Percentile
Capex Growth (1y) % Capex 1y % (Qtr) -41.23 -50.32
Cash and Equivalents Growth (1y) % Cash & Equiv 1y % (Qtr) 205.34 1,609.43
Dividend Growth (1y) % Dividend Growth (1y) % 0.00 0.75
EBIAT Growth (1y) % EBIAT 1y % (Qtr) -9.05 -30.98
EBITDA Growth (1y) % EBITDA 1y % (Qtr) 54.59 10.65
EBIT Growth (1y) % EBIT 1y % (Qtr) -7.11 -26.90
EBT Growth (1y) % EBT 1y % (Qtr) -7.73 -27.25
EPS Growth (1y) % EPS 1y % (Qtr) -5.00 -99.21
FCF Growth (1y) % FCF 1y % (Qtr) 152.35 6.61
Gross Profit Growth (1y) % Gross Profit 1y % (Qtr) 22.15 -5.55
Liquidity Ratios Value Ind Avg Percentile
Asset Utilization Ratio Asset Util Ratio (Qtr) 0.26 0.51
Cash Payout Ratio Cash Payout (Qtr) 0.00 0.07
Cash Ratio Cash Ratio (Qtr) 2.36 1.76
Current Ratio Curr Ratio (Qtr) 4.00 3.72
Debt to Equity Ratio Debt/Equity (Qtr) 1.32 0.07
Interest Cover Ratio Int Coverage (Qtr) -122.78 -18.00
Times Interest Earned Times Interest Earned (Qtr) -122.78 -18.00
Profitability Value Ind Avg Percentile
EBITDA Margin % EBITDA Margin % (Qtr) -29.90 -345.84
EBIT Margin % EBIT Margin % (Qtr) -44.34 -382.63
EBT Margin % EBT Margin % (Qtr) -44.70 -387.93
Gross Margin % Gross Margin % (Qtr) 57.90 -33.31
Net Profit Margin % Net Margin % (Qtr) -45.90 -389.13