Viasat Inc., the Carlsbad business with one foot in government contracting and the other foot in commercial and consumer businesses, reported a net loss of $6.6 million, or 9 cents per share, on revenue of $719.7 million in the quarter that ended Dec. 31. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance had expected net income of a penny a share.
Revenue came in at a record high, CEO Rick Baldridge said. “Our business continues to perform well on almost every front,” he said at the start of an investor conference call.
In the same quarter one year ago, the business reported net income of $6.8 million, or 10 cents per share, on revenue of $575.6 million. The business released its financial results on Feb. 3. On Viasat’s calendar, the December quarter is the third quarter.
Growth in Services, Commercial Networks
Satellite Services revenue was up 40% from the same quarter last year, to $310 million. Commercial Networks revenue was $140 million, up 30% year-over-year.
Government Systems revenue for the most recent quarter was $270 million, up 2% year-over-year. The business reported a backlog of $956 million in government projects, down from $1.03 billion at the same time one year ago. The figure does not count some $3.77 billion in possible revenue from indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts.
Executives reported that the launch of the first ViaSat-3 satellite is now set for late summer, due to a “modest slippage of the supply chain.” The first unit of a three-satellite constellation will provide coverage of the Americas. The second ViaSat-3 satellite — to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa — will be launched about six months later. Its payload is being finished in Tempe, Arizona and is scheduled for shipment to Boeing Co. for integration to the satellite bus (the main body of the satellite).
