Benzinga | Oct 19, 2021 08:15AM EDT

Iridium Clocks 7% Revenue Growth In Q3, Beats Consensus

* Iridium Communications Inc (NASDAQ:IRDM) reported third-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 7% year-on-year to $162.2 million, beating the consensus of $153.71 million.

* Service revenue rose 9.3% Y/Y to $127.8 million. Revenue from equipment sales and engineering and support projects was $34.4 million.

* Commercial service revenue was $101.9 million, up 11% Y/Y. Commercial broadband revenue was up 26.4% Y/Y to $11.5 million. Hosted payload and other data service revenue were $14.6 million. Government service revenue was $25.9 million.

* The OEBITDA margin remained stable at 61.7%. OEBITDA benefitted from increases in revenue across the board.

* Total billable subscribers rose 18% Y/Y to 1.69 million, driven by growth in commercial IoT customers.

* The EPS loss of $(0.02) versus loss of $(0.03) last year.

* Iridium held $289 million in cash and equivalents.

* "We feel really good about the momentum we're seeing in our business, CEO Matt Desch said. It's broad-based and a function of strong top-line growth, good execution, and strong partner activity. Together, these factors provide Iridium a clear runway for long-term growth," said CEO Matt Desch.

* Outlook: Iridium raised its OEBITDA outlook to $375 million (prior view $365 million - $375 million).

* Iridium also raised its FY21 outlook for service revenue growth to 5% - 6% ( prior 4% - 5% growth).

* Price Action: IRDM shares closed higher by 0.97% at $39.61 on Tuesday.