Investors aggressively intensified the force of the market's gravity on satellite company Viasat (VSAT -8.88%) over the past few trading sessions. In the wake of a disappointing quarterly earnings report and a subsequent analyst price target cut, the company's shares sank. According to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, they ended the week down 16%.
Downward trajectory
The bears came for Viasat on Wednesday, just after the company unveiled its fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter results.
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The most striking aspect of the earnings release was the surprise net loss: Viasat's red ink for the period was $0.02 per share. The uncomfortable thing about this was that analysts' consensus estimate had been for a profit of $0.04 per share.
The company's top-line performance wasn't all that much to write home about either: The slightly under $1.15 billion it booked in revenue was essentially flat year over year. That result did top analysts' collective projection, but only by a little.
Investors might have been more forgiving of those weak results had the company not also announced a delay in the planned deployment of its latest satellites from the latter part of this year to early 2026. While this isn't a drastic change, a delay is a delay, and not beneficial to the business.
A fairly deep cut
With such factors in mind, on Thursday, Needham analyst Ryan Koontz pulled the lever on a price target reduction. In his view, Viasat will be trading at $16 per share a year from now, down from his previous estimation of $19 per share. This shift doesn't make him a bear, however, as he maintained his buy recommendation on the stock, which closed trading Friday at $9.15.
While I don't think investors should abandon Viasat just because of its surprise quarterly loss, I'd highlight the fact that it remains a quite speculative investment. If you feel the company has potential and want to own its shares, please be prepared for higher-than-average volatility.
