ViaSat Inc. reported net income of $4.2 million on revenues of $380.6 million for its third quarter, which ended Dec. 31.
Investors whose enthusiasm drooped when seeing earnings of 8 cents per share may have taken heart with other news the company released on Feb. 9.
ViaSat announced an April 25 launch date for its high-capacity ViaSat-2 satellite, which is expected to offer coverage to North America and the North Atlantic. ViaSat-2 may be operating and making money before the end of the calendar year. The business is also working on a set of high-capacity ViaSat-3 satellites which will offer coverage to most of the globe.
Some 555 commercial aircraft carried ViaSat’s satellite Wi-Fi service, and more than 750 are in line to be installed. The backlog grew, thanks to American Airlines selecting ViaSat to outfit its new Boeing 737 MAX fleet and to retrofit more than 500 aircraft from its existing fleet.
ViaSat’s total sales backlog at the end of the quarter was $1.06 billion, up from $866 million at the end of the same quarter last year.
In the year-ago quarter, ViaSat reported net income of $9.7 million, or 20 cents per share, on revenues of $347.8 million.
ViaSat said it received record contract awards of $1.3 billion in the first nine months of its fiscal year.
