Rendering of Iridium’s constellation. Photo: Iridium

Iridium Communications increased revenue by 4% in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year with higher commercial revenue and higher government engineering revenue. The satellite operator reported its second quarter 2024 results on July 23, affirming its full-year guidance projecting service revenue growth between 4% and 6% for the full year. 

Also during the quarter, Iridium repurchased $96.6 million of its shares, equal to 3% of company shares. 

Iridium reported total revenue of $201 million during the quarter. Net income was $32.3 million, compared to net loss of $30.7 million in the same time last year. Operational EBITDA was $114.0 million, a 2% year-over-year decrease. 

Commercial service revenue, which makes up the largest part of Iridium’s business, grew 6% year-over-year with growth in IoT data and voice and data services.

Commercial IoT data continues to be a main driver of growth for Iridium, growing 20% year-over-year to $41.6 million in revenue during the quarter. Iridium also increased the average revenue per user (ARPU) for this segment from $7.48 a year ago to $7.70 in Q2 due to a new contract with a large customer. 

Iridium added 83,000 commercial subscribers during the quarter, ending Q2 with 2,271,000 billable subscribers. IoT data subscribers represent 81% of all billable commercial subscribers.

Iridium also increased revenue in the engineering and support category. Engineering and support revenue was $25.8 million in Q2, up 25% year-over-year due to a rise in activity with the U.S. government.

Government service revenue remained flat at $26.5 million in the second quarter, reflecting the contractual rate in Iridium’s Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services (EMSS) contract. 

Equipment revenue of $22.8 million was down 17% year-over-year, and Iridium expects lower equipment sales this year. 

“Iridium’s strong capital position continues to support our return of capital to shareholders. During the quarter, we repurchased three percent of our shares and increased our quarterly dividend to common shareholders,” CEO Matt Desch commented. “We plan to continue being aggressive with our shareholder-friendly activities in 2024, based on current market valuations.”