Globalstar Announces Second Quarter 2023 Results

August 03, 2023

Globalstar, Inc.  announced its operating and financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.

“Globalstar continued to see robust growth during the second quarter, with a significant improvement in profitability resulting from a 50% increase in revenue over the prior year's quarter. Notably, Adjusted EBITDA was up 86% over the same period and ending liquidity was $65 million, more than double our cash balance at year end. Importantly, service revenue increased beyond the scope of our wholesale agreement, reflecting organic growth powered by our efforts in IoT,” said Rebecca Clary, Chief Financial Officer. Clary continued, “As a result of our sustained growth, we are tightening our previously issued guidance, increasing the low end of the 2023 revenue range from $185 million to $200 million.”

Dave Kagan, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “This quarter’s results further attest to the initiatives we embarked on to transform the Company along our four pillars – wholesale, legacy, IoT and terrestrial spectrum. We have laid a solid foundation in each to capture the significant opportunities on the horizon, armed with a unique portfolio of assets. We are all very proud and humbled by the lifesaving impact Globalstar is enabling around the world, and we are nowhere near finished.”

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Total Revenue 

Total revenue increased $18.3 million, or 50%, to $55.1 million during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022, due to increases in both service revenue and revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales.

Service Revenue

Service revenue increased $15.6 million, or 47%, during the second quarter of 2023, due primarily to higher wholesale capacity service revenue. This category of revenue, which increased $16.7 million from the prior year quarter, includes fees earned under our Service Agreements. This increase was due largely to the launch of Phase 1 service in November 2022 and our continued performance associated with the construction of additional satellites.

The primary highlight of our subscriber driven revenue sources continues to be growth in Commercial IoT, which saw a revenue increase of 6% from the second quarter of 2022, due to an increase in the subscriber base. Notably, gross subscriber activations were up 21% over the last twelve months, compared to the preceding twelve-month period, reaching a record high in any twelve-month period since we started selling Commercial IoT products. Momentum continues to build as we further expand into new verticals, launch new products and pursue new distribution relationships.

Regarding our legacy services, SPOT was down due to fewer average subscribers. Equipment sales and gross activations over the last twelve months were impacted for several quarters by inventory shortages and back orders of two of our core SPOT products. Second quarter 2023 was the first full quarter of normal production of these devices and we have seen a correlated increase in activations during this timeframe. Duplex service revenue declined at an expected rate due to attrition in the subscriber base, offset partially by an ARPU increase.

Subscriber Equipment Sales

Subscriber equipment sales increased $2.7 million or 71% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the second quarter of 2022. Device sales have returned to a typical cadence in 2023, reflecting a significant improvement over the prior year, which was negatively impacted by supply chain disruptions.

Commercial IoT equipment sales revenue increased more than 100% from the prior year's quarter for the third consecutive quarter. We expect this trend to continue as our sales pipeline remains active.

SPOT equipment revenue increased 50% from the prior year's quarter as retailers placed orders ahead of our strongest selling season. We expect equipment sales to continue to increase as we move through 2023 as all SPOT products are being manufactured in the ordinary course of business.

Income (Loss) from Operations

Income from operations was $2.6 million during the second quarter of 2023, compared to loss from operations of $11.4 million during the second quarter of 2022. Higher revenue (discussed above) was offset partially by an increase in operating expenses.

Cost of services was higher due primarily to expenses associated with new gateway sites as we expanded and upgraded our global ground network to support wholesale capacity services. A significant portion of these costs are reimbursed to us in connection with our Service Agreements, and this consideration is recognized as revenue. Higher information technology and software maintenance costs associated with enhanced cyber and physical security and our recently launched ERP platform also contributed to the increase in costs quarter over quarter.

The increase in cost of subscriber equipment sales is in line with the increase in equipment revenue; margin percentages were down slightly due to the mix of products sold in each respective quarter.

Management, general and administrative costs (MG&A) costs were higher during the second quarter of 2023 due primarily to stock-based compensation costs incurred from performance-based grants over the past twelve months. Higher legal and professional fees also increased during the second quarter of 2023 due to various efforts, including increased regulatory work, government relations and negotiations of new commercial arrangements.

Net Income (Loss) 

Net income was less than $0.1 million for the second quarter of 2023, compared to net loss of $26.8 million for the second quarter of 2022. This variance was due primarily to an improvement in operating income (discussed above), coupled with lower interest expense and a favorable fluctuation in foreign currency gains (losses). Interest expense was lower during the second quarter of 2023 due to the payoff of the 2019 Facility Agreement during the first quarter of 2023, as well as higher capitalized interest (which reduces interest expense) due to an increase in capital expenditures as we complete work related to our new satellites. 

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA was $27.0 million during the second quarter of 2023, an increase of $12.5 million or 86%, compared to the prior year's quarter due to higher revenue offset partially by higher operating expenses (excluding EBITDA adjustments) for the reasons previously discussed. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on its usage and presentation, as well as a reconciliation to GAAP net income (loss), refer to “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA”.

Liquidity

As of June 30, 2023, we held cash and cash equivalents of $65.3 million, compared to $32.1 million as of December 31, 2022. Over the next twelve months, our sources of cash are also expected to include operating cash flows generated from the business and payments from our Partner under the 2023 Funding Agreement. These sources of cash will be used to pay capital expenditures associated with the new satellites and debt service costs.