What happened
Flying as high as the satellites it deploys, shares of Terran Orbital (LLAP 5.34%) are skyrocketing in response to the satellite manufacturer's news that it has won a major award from Rivada Space Networks.
As of 10:30 a.m. ET, Terran Orbital's stock is up 57.7%, retreating slightly from its earlier climb of 75.4%.
So what
Terran Orbital announced today the signing of a contract valued at $2.4 billion regarding the design, building, and deployment of 288 satellites in low-earth orbit for Rivada Space Networks. Additionally, Terran Orbital will develop 12 "spare" satellites, bringing the total number of satellites to 300.
Rivada Space Networks is a subsidiary of Rivada Networks, a provider of wireless communications throughout the Americas as well as Europe.
In order to appreciate the magnitude of the recently inked deal for Terran Orbital, it may help to put the size of the contract in perspective and look at some key metrics. In the third quarter 2022, Terran Orbital reported revenue of $27.8 million and as of the end of yesterday's trading session, Terran Orbital had a market capitalization of $243.5 million.
Now what
It's unsurprising that investors are rejoicing today after learning of the company's major win. And this may just be the beginning. As of the end of the third quarter of 2022, Terran Orbital reported a pipeline of approximately $15 billion. The deal with Rivada Space Networks seems to illustrate that Terran Orbital can succeed at transitioning projects out of the pipeline and into the backlog, suggesting to investors that this may be a harbinger of other major contracts in the future.
