SpaceX IPO excitement drove Intuitive Machines (LUNR 8.89%) stock higher for a fourth straight trading day Tuesday. With a little help from Wall Street, this time, it looks like it's going to stick.
Shares of the lunar lander company soared 17.2% through 11:20 a.m. ET after Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard raised his price target on the space stock by 65%, to $43 per share.
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Why Cantor loves Intuitive Machines stock
What makes Cantor so optimistic about Intuitive Machines stock?
The company's post-earnings promise to approach $1 billion in revenue this year is certainly one factor, and management's assurance that it will be "profitable," at least in terms of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA -- which isn't really earnings), is another.
What's got Cantor's analyst even more excited, though, is the prospect that NASA might award Intuitive a contract to build a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) this week. Sheppard says he's "confident" Intuitive will get the contract, which could be worth up to $4.6 billion over time.
Additional catalysts include Intuitive's upcoming Q4 IM-3 moon landing (which hopefully will land upright), as well as funds from the U.S. Space Force's Andromeda space domain awareness program, which could be worth anywhere from $1.8 billion to $6.2 billion over 10 years.
NASDAQ: LUNR
Key Data Points
What it means for Intuitive Machines stock
Granted, 14 other companies are competing for parts of that last one. Indeed, many of the contracts Intuitive Machines has won, or may win, could end up being shared with other awardees.
Still, this is quite a lot of billion-dollar-plus contracts we're talking about here. If Intuitive Machines wins significant roles in even a handful of them, the $6.1 billion market capitalization on this space stock could easily look like a bargain.
