Shares of space-exploration company Intuitive Machines are up 470.7% this year
Space-exploration company Intuitive Machines Inc.'s banner year is continuing. On Monday the Houston-based company announced that it has clinched additional contracts from NASA's Near Space Network.
In a statement, Intuitive Machines (LUNR) Chief Executive Steve Altemus said that the contract awards position the company to capitalize on the $4.82 billion maximum potential value of the NSN contract. The new contract awards include the provision of geostationary to cislunar Direct-to-Earth services and cislunar DTE services for highly elliptical orbits and deep space operations. Cislunar refers to the area between the Earth and the moon or the moon's orbit.
The contract wins provide Intuitive Machines with the "lion's share" of the NSN contract, according to Benchmark analyst Josh Sullivan in a note released Monday.
Related: This space stock is up more than 400% this year as second moon mission looms
In September the company's stock soared after Intuitive Machines announced that NASA had awarded it the NSN contract for communication and navigation services for missions in the near-space region, which extends from Earth's surface to beyond the Moon.
The NSN contract "will be the backbone for communication/data relay to and from the moon," wrote Benchmark's Sullivan. "These wins therefore cement LUNR as a pillar of long-term lunar infrastructure, and potentially has a very attractive margin profile once in service," the analyst added. "NSN also provides significant backlog and long-term financial stability, something many space peers lack."
Benchmark has a buy rating for Intuitive Machines. Of six analysts surveyed by FactSet, one has an overweight rating and five have a buy rating for Intuitive Machines.
Related: Intuitive Machines' stock soars as company preps second moon mission for early 2025
Intuitive Machines shares ended Monday's session up 7.4% to register their biggest daily percentage gain since Dec. 16, when they rose 10.7%. The stock is up 470.7% in 2024.
The company's shares are up 0.8% in premarket trades Tuesday.
Earlier this year Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander became the first commercial lander to successfully land on the moon's surface. During a conference call to discuss Intuitive Machines' third-quarter results last month, Altemus said the company's IM-2 mission is on track to fly in the first quarter of 2025, with a February launch window. The CEO said IM-2 is a "very complicated" prospecting mission that will deploy a drill, hopper and rover on the lunar surface.
Related: Moon launch sends Intuitive Machines shares skyrocketing
"The race to the moon is expected to be a more prominent geopolitical issue going forward as the Chinese continue to make high profile advances," wrote Benchmark's Sullivan in Monday's note. "At the same time, NASA and the U.S. Artemis program to return manned operations to the Moon face both technical and budgetary headwinds. LUNR on the other hand, offers the U.S. a highprofile path to continue to build lunar infrastructure with commercial like speed and costs."
"LUNR established itself as the leading commercial delivery entity with the first U.S. landing on the moon since the 1970s earlier this year (follow up IM missions upcoming)," the analyst added.
-James Rogers
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