Planet Labs PBC

Q1 revenue was a record $94 million, up approximately 42% year over year. Non-GAAP gross margin was 56%, compared with 59% in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $1 million, better than expected, and capital expenditures were approximately $18 million. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments ended at approximately $731 million; operating cash flow was about $15 million and free cash flow was negative $2.5 million. RPO was approximately $816 million, up over 80% year over year, and backlog was approximately $906 million, up about 72% year over year. For Q2, Planet guided to revenue of $102 million-$107 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 52%-55%, and adjusted EBITDA of breakeven to $5 million, with CapEx of $21 million-$27 million. For FY27, revenue guidance was raised to $425 million-$441 million, non-GAAP gross margin to 52%-54%, adjusted EBITDA to breakeven to $10 million, and CapEx to $80 million-$95 million; management also expects to be free cash flow positive on an annual basis.

Will Marshall struck an upbeat tone, calling Q1 “another excellent quarter” and emphasizing record revenue, a successful 8-figure international deal, and the launch of 3 Pelican satellites, including Sweden’s first sovereign reconnaissance satellite just 4 months after contract signing. He framed Planet’s differentiation as speed, execution, and the ability to deliver both immediate satellite access and rapid deployment of sovereign space capabilities. He also stressed that AI, including the new natural-language beta app and SuperRes, can widen the customer base and make Planet’s archive more accessible and useful.

Ashley Johnson focused on the quarter’s operating leverage and balance-sheet strength. She said Q1 revenue beat expectations on new wins, gross margin came in better than expected at 56% because revenue outperformance flowed through while data delivery has relatively low marginal cost, and adjusted EBITDA loss was just $1 million. She highlighted cash of about $731 million, CapEx of about $18 million in Q1, and said CapEx will rise as Planet scales manufacturing in San Francisco and Berlin and builds next-generation fleets. She also raised FY27 revenue guidance to $425 million-$441 million, gross margin to 52%-54%, and reiterated annual free cash flow positivity.

Analysts pressed on the remaining pipeline, especially the mix of U.S. vs. international intelligence customers, and management said it is robust, geographically balanced, and benefiting from Planet’s ability to move customers quickly from data/services into sovereign satellite programs. Questions on orbital data centers and Google elicited an early-stage response: management said it is a moonshot, declined technical targets, and pointed to compute density, inter-satellite links, radiators and firmware as the main engineering hurdles. On AI, management said the natural-language beta is still early with a small cohort of testers and no GA timeline, but it is meant to unlock more use cases and lower barriers for nontechnical users. Analysts also asked about competition, Middle East imagery restrictions, and capital allocation; management said the competitive landscape has not changed much, access restrictions are limited to publication delays rather than core customers, and capital is being prioritized for growth, market capture and selective accretive M&A.