Globalstar Announces Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

August 08, 2024

Globalstar, Inc.  announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

"Globalstar reported record revenue during the second quarter, driven primarily by growth in wholesale capacity services and other recent business initiatives. The high-margin nature of this revenue contributed to a 20% increase in Adjusted EBITDA and an increase in cash on hand to $64 million as of June 30, 2024," commented Rebecca Clary, Chief Financial Officer. Clary continued, “Based on the continued momentum across our key growth categories, we are raising the low end of our revenue guidance to $235 million from $225 million and projected Adjusted EBITDA margin to 53% from 50%.”

Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, said, “This quarter highlighted Globalstar’s ability to enable new capabilities by leveraging our core competencies as an MSS operator, as well as the flexibility of our network to reliably and rapidly support and deploy new technologies and services. We are pleased that our wholesale services are growing in both the government and consumer segments. We are continuing to make good progress through the proof of concept that commenced this year for a government services company. We have been installing and validating XCOM RAN in our customer's Micro Fulfillment Centers, demonstrating XCOM RAN’s ability to uniquely support their mission critical requirements. Additionally, we are in the midst of a government study of use cases for our XCOMP technology. We remain focused on building on our strong customer relationships to create value leveraging the differentiated assets of our LEO network, Band 53 spectrum, and XCOM RAN technology."

SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL REVIEW

Total Revenue

Total revenue increased 10% to $60.4 million during the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023, due to an increase in service revenue offset partially by a decrease in revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales.

Service Revenue 

Service revenue increased $9.0 million, or 18%, during the second quarter of 2024 from the second quarter of 2023. This increase was due predominantly to revenue generated from wholesale capacity services.

The highlight for our subscriber driven service revenue was continued growth in Commercial IoT. Commercial IoT service revenue reached a record high this quarter, totaling $6.7 million, an increase of 25% from the prior year's quarter, due to both growth in our subscriber base and higher ARPU. Gross subscriber activations have continued to increase over this period, including on a consecutive basis with activations up 20% from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024, which we expect will further contribute to future service revenue for Commercial IoT.

Consistent with prior quarters, service revenue associated with legacy services was lower due to fewer Duplex and SPOT subscribers. The number of SPOT subscribers has been unfavorably impacted by competitive pressure, as well as supply chain disruptions that have now been resolved. We are encouraged by an almost 40% increase in gross SPOT subscriber activations from the first quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of 2024. While this increase may be attributable in part to the seasonality of SPOT subscriber activity, this increase is more than double the activity from the same periods in the prior year. Duplex service revenue declined due to expected attrition in the subscriber base.

Subscriber Equipment Sales

Revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales was down $3.7 million from the prior year's quarter due to the timing of Commercial IoT and SPOT device sales. During 2023, we recovered from inventory shortages that impacted both device categories and experienced higher sales as a result of improved product availability.

(Loss) Income from Operations

Loss from operations was $1.4 million during the second quarter of 2024, compared to income from operations of $2.6 million during the second quarter of 2023. This variance was due primarily to higher operating expenses.

Cost of services increased resulting from higher network operating costs, including gateway maintenance, security, IT and personnel expenses. These costs are necessary to support our new and upgraded global ground infrastructure. A significant portion of these costs are reimbursed to us, and this consideration is recognized as revenue when earned in the subsequent year. We do not expect the operating costs that support existing Phase 1 services to increase meaningfully beyond current levels. Cost of services also increased due to non-cash costs associated with the Support Services Agreement (the “SSA”) we entered into in August 2023 in connection with the XCOM License Agreement. 

Stock-based compensation increased from the prior year's second quarter due primarily to restricted stock units granted in connection with the XCOM License Agreement in September 2023. The total fair value of the RSUs was $39.5 million and is being recognized over the derived service period of 2.6 years; nearly 60% of the compensation cost for these RSUs will be recognized during 2024.

Partially offsetting these increases was lower cost of subscriber equipment sales, which was down consistent with the decrease in equipment revenue.

Net Loss (Income)

Net loss was $9.7 million for the second quarter of 2024, compared to net income of less than $0.1 million for the second quarter of 2023. This variance was due primarily to a loss from operations (for the reasons discussed above) as well as unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency gains and losses due to the remeasurement of intercompany balances.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA increased 20% to $32.6 million during the second quarter of 2024 compared to $27.0 million during the prior year's second quarter, due primarily to an increase in high margin service revenue. 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”.

YEAR TO DATE FINANCIAL REVIEW

Revenue

Total revenue increased to $116.9 million during the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to the six months ended June 30, 2023, due to an increase in service revenue offset partially by a decrease in revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales.

Service revenue increased $9.5 million, or 9%, for the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Consistent with the quarterly results discussed above, higher wholesale capacity service revenue was the primary driver of the increase. Higher Commercial IoT subscribers and ARPU also positively impacted this variance, offset by fewer Duplex and SPOT subscribers.

Revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales decreased $6.3 million due primarily to the timing of Commercial IoT sales. Our pipeline for Commercial IoT opportunities remains strong and we expect sales to rebound in the second half of 2024.

(Loss) Income from Operations

Loss from operations was $6.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to income from operations of $9.8 million during the same period in 2023. Higher operating expenses more than offset the increase in revenue for the period.

As discussed above, higher stock-based compensation and cost of services were the primary expense increases during the first six months of 2024. Additionally, a 6% increase in MG&A costs was due primarily to non-cash costs associated with the SSA and certain non-routine items, including professional fees to support increased regulatory efforts and negotiations of new commercial arrangements. Lower cost of subscriber equipment partially offset these increases.

Net Loss 

Net loss was $22.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024 compared to $3.5 million during the same period in 2023. The higher net loss in 2024 was due to the increase in loss from operations (discussed above) coupled with various noncash items. During the first quarter of 2023, we recognized a nonrecurring, non-cash loss on extinguishment of debt. This favorable fluctuation was offset by unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency gains and losses due to the remeasurement of intercompany balances.

Liquidity

As of June 30, 2024, we held cash and cash equivalents of $64.3 million, compared to $56.7 million as of December 31, 2023. During the first half of 2024, net cash flows generated from operations of $66.5 million and net cash flows from financing activities of $16.2 million were used to fund capital expenditures of $74.5 million.

Operating cash flows include cash receipts from our customers, primarily from the performance of wholesale capacity services, as well as from subscribers for the purchase of equipment and satellite voice and data services. We use cash in operating activities primarily for network costs, personnel costs, inventory purchases and other general corporate expenditures. Investing outflows largely relate to network upgrades associated with the Service Agreements, including milestone work under the satellite procurement agreement with MDA and the launch services agreement with SpaceX. Financing activities relate primarily to the 2021 and 2023 Funding Agreements.

Over the next twelve months, our sources of cash are expected to include operating cash flows generated from the business and proceeds under the 2023 Funding Agreement. These sources of cash will be used to pay capital expenditures associated with the new satellites and associated launch costs as well as debt service costs.

FINANCIAL OUTLOOK

We are raising our prior financial outlook for full year 2024 with anticipated results below.

Total revenue between $235 million and $250 million (an increase from the prior range of $225 million to $250 million)

Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 53% (an increase from the prior margin of 50%)