Globalstar Announces 2024 Financial Results

February 27, 2025 04:15 PM Eastern Standard Time

COVINGTON, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Globalstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: GSAT) ("Globalstar" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2024.

"Globalstar reported strong fourth quarter and full year results, highlighted by a year-over-year revenue increase of 12%, marking an annual record. Net loss for the year was $63.2 million, driven predominantly by non-operating items such as a loss on extinguishment of debt and foreign currency loss. However, adjusted EBITDA* was a record $135.3 million in 2024, compared to $116.7 million for 2023. This increase was driven by strong revenue growth across our key service offerings. Looking ahead to 2025, we are reiterating our previously-issued financial guidance for the year, with revenue expected to be in the range of $260 million to $285 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expected to be approximately 50%, impacted by incremental strategic investments in terrestrial network and other long-term growth initiatives,” commented Rebecca Clary, Chief Financial Officer. 

Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer, said, “2024 was a remarkable year for Globalstar as we executed well on several key initiatives that we believe will enable long-term, sustainable growth. We made important strides enhancing our product portfolio to address key end markets including consumer and government defense. This is highlighted through our recent partnership announcements with Parsons Corporation, Peiker Holding Company, and Liquid Intelligent Technologies. Furthermore, the recent expansion of our wholesale capacity arrangement demonstrates the importance of our network and we are pleased to further this relationship.”

Dr. Jacobs continued, “While 2024 was a success by many measures, there remains a massive opportunity in front of us. We expect to make continued progress on our recently announced partnerships, along with the advances in our XCOM RAN technology, which we demonstrated live for the first time at our analyst and investor day in December. Finally, I would like to thank all of our employees for their dedication and hard work throughout 2024.”

RECENT OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Executed an updated services agreement with our wholesale capacity customer, which includes development of a new satellite constellation, expanded ground infrastructure and increased global MSS licensing (the "Expanded MSS Network") as described in more detail in our November 1, 2024 Form 8-K. Globalstar will retain 100% of all terrestrial, MSS and other revenue and will continue to allocate 85% of its current and future network capacity to render the satellite services to the customer across existing and new satellites. Globalstar reserved 15% of its network capacity to service our direct MSS customers.

Announced an exclusive partnership with Parsons Corporation for public sector and defense applications and announced a successful demonstration of Parsons’ software-defined satellite communications solution using Globalstar’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The proof of concept, which commenced in the first half of 2024, is progressing through the necessary steps to enter commercial service. This successful demonstration marks an important milestone as the first of its kind in North America. It unlocks previously thought impossible, new mission-critical solutions tailored for radio frequency-congested environments, setting a new standard for global communication services in complex and often challenging operating conditions.

Commenced a strategic partnership with Peiker Holding GmbH to bring satellite-based emergency services and telematics capabilities to automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The partnership enables Peiker to represent Globalstar in Europe and support Globalstar not only with the introduction and distribution in the European market, but also acting as a technical support partner in relevant projects. In addition, Peiker will contribute its own product development resources and initiatives to optimize the performance of Globalstar technologies for other automotive applications.

Received a 15-year renewal of Globalstar’s blanket mobile earth terminal authorization from the Federal Communications Commission. This radio station authorization provides our authority to operate numerous categories of mobile earth terminals with its U.S. and French-licensed NGSO satellites throughout the U.S. and its territories for our millions of users.

FOURTH QUARTER FINANCIAL REVIEW

Revenue

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $61.2 million, which was comprised of $57.7 million of service revenue and $3.5 million of revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales. Total revenue increased 17% from the prior year's fourth quarter due to higher service revenue. 

Higher service revenue of $8.7 million, or an increase of 18%, was due primarily to higher wholesale capacity services. This increase was due to fees earned related to certain expanded services that began in 2024, which are expected to continue as we provide services under the Updated Service Agreements.

Total subscriber driven revenue was down $1.3 million, due to continued, expected churn in the Duplex subscriber base as well as fewer gross activations for SPOT. Partially offsetting this decline was an 8% increase in Commercial IoT due to increases in both average subscribers and average revenue per user ("ARPU"). ARPU is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information, refer to “Schedule of Selected Operating Measures”. 

Loss from Operations

Loss from operations was $4.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $12.0 million during the prior year's fourth quarter. This improvement was due to higher revenue (as discussed above) offset partially by a slight increase in operating expenses.

Operating expenses were $65.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $64.4 million during the prior year's fourth quarter, representing an increase of $1.0 million, or 2%. Higher cost of services was offset partially by lower stock-based compensation. Higher cost of services resulted primarily from product development and network operating costs, such as personnel and maintenance costs. These network-related 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. Stock-based compensation was lower during the fourth quarter of 2024, resulting from the timing of expenses associated with restricted stock units granted to certain executives in connection with the intellectual property license agreement (the “License Agreement”) with XCOM Labs, Inc. (now known as Virewirx, Inc.).

Net Loss

Net loss was $50.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to $15.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. In 2024, net loss was driven by a non-cash loss on extinguishment of debt associated with the paydown of the 2023 13% Notes as well as unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Other items partially offset these unfavorable variances, including lower net interest expense (due to higher capitalized interest) and a loss on equity issuance associated with the warrants to purchase shares our common stock issued during the fourth quarter of 2023 that did not recur in 2024. 

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA increased to $30.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2024 from $25.1 million for the same period in 2023. This 21% increase was due to higher revenue of $8.8 million offset partially by a $3.5 million increase in operating expenses (both excluding adjustments for non-cash or non-recurring items). Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information, refer to “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA.

ANNUAL FINANCIAL REVIEW

Revenue

Total revenue was $250.3 million during the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, which was comprised of $237.7 million of service revenue and $12.7 million of revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales. Total revenue increased 12% from 2023 and reached a record high for the Company. This increase was due to an increase in service revenue, offset partially by a decrease in revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales.

Service revenue increased $33.5 million, or 16%, during the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Consistent with the quarterly results discussed above, higher wholesale capacity revenue was the primary driver of this increase. Higher Commercial IoT subscribers and ARPU also positively impacted 2024 revenue. Record service revenue from Commercial IoT during 2024 reflects growth with existing and new customers. 2024 service revenue also reflects the positive impact from new revenue arrangements, including services associated with our agreement with Parsons Corporation for mission-critical governmental applications, as well as services associated with XCOM RAN installations during the year. Partially offsetting these positive revenue drivers were fewer Duplex and SPOT subscribers during 2024.

Revenue generated from subscriber equipment sales decreased $7.0 million due primarily to the timing of sales of Commercial IoT devices as well as competitive pressure on sales of SPOT devices. Our pipeline for Commercial IoT sales opportunities remains strong, evidenced by a 35% increase in equipment sales volume on a consecutive quarter basis.

Loss from Operations

Loss from operations was $0.9 million during 2024 compared to $0.2 million during 2023. This variance was due to higher operating expenses, offset partially by an increase in revenue in 2024. Higher cost of services and stock-based compensation were the primary expense increases during 2024, offset partially by lower cost of subscriber equipment.

The drivers of higher cost of services are consistent with the quarterly discussion above, in addition to higher product development costs as well as non-cash costs associated with the Support Services Agreement (the “SSA”) that we entered into in August 2023 in connection with the XCOM License Agreement. The decrease in cost of subscriber equipment is generally consistent with the decrease in the related device sales revenue during 2024; however, it is also related to margin improvement due to the mix of products sold in each period as well as the cost improvement from moving our manufacturing from China to Vietnam, which reduced tariffs incurred for U.S. imports for a portion of 2024.

Net Loss

Net loss was $63.2 million for 2024 compared to $24.7 million for 2023. This variance was due primarily to a higher loss on extinguishment of debt and unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. During 2023, the payoff of the 2019 Facility Agreement resulted in a loss on extinguishment of debt totaling $10.4 million; during 2024, the payoff of the 2023 13% Notes resulted in a loss on extinguishment of debt totaling $27.4 million. Other items offset these unfavorable variances, including lower net interest expense (due to higher capitalized interest) and a loss on equity issuance associated with the warrants to purchase shares of our common stock issued during the fourth quarter of 2023 that did not recur in 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA was $135.3 million in 2024, representing a margin of 54% and reaching a record high for the Company. This 16% increase from $116.7 million in 2023 was due to a $26.5 million increase in total revenue (for reasons previously discussed), offset partially by a $7.9 million increase in operating expenses (both excluding adjustments for non-cash or non-recurring items). Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information, refer to “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA.

Liquidity

Cash and cash equivalents were $391.2 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to $56.7 million as of December 31, 2023. During 2024, net cash flows from operations of $439.2 million and net cash flows from financing activities of $157.2 million were used to fund capital expenditures of $260.6 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, including satellite construction and launch costs. Financing activities relate primarily to the 2021 and 2023 funding agreements with our largest customer, the issuance of the Customer Class B Units, as well as preferred stock dividend payments.

Cash flows during 2024 were significantly impacted by the Updated Services Agreements. Since the execution of the Updated Services Agreements in November 2024, the Company received cash payments from its customer totaling $689 million, including proceeds from the sale of Customer Class B Units (excluding in-kind contributions), proceeds from the issuance of the Current Debt Repayment that were used to pay off the 2023 13% Notes, and certain advance service payments under the Infrastructure Prepayment. A portion of the payments received was used to fund capital expenditures for the Extended MSS Network; the remaining amount of approximately $320 million was held in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2024 and will be used in 2025 to procure infrastructure for the Extended MSS Network.

The total principal amount of our debt was $417.5 million at December 31, 2024 and $398.7 million at December 31, 2023. This increase was due primarily to proceeds from the 2023 funding agreement and PIK interest payments made to the lenders of the 2023 13% Notes prior to their payoff, offset partially by scheduled recoupments pursuant to the 2021 funding agreement.