Quick Verdict
Planet Labs posted a strong fiscal Q2 2027, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.02 versus a consensus loss estimate of $0.02 and record revenue of $116.1 million. These Planet Labs Q2 Fiscal 2027 Earnings reflect sales that rose 58% year over year and exceeded consensus by roughly $11.6 million. Shares rebounded in after-hours trading following the release.
About Planet Labs PBC
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) is a San Francisco-based Earth-observation and geospatial-data company founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists. The company designs, builds, and operates a large fleet of imaging satellites, providing daily global satellite imagery, data subscriptions, analytics, tasking capacity, and software solutions to government, defense, agriculture, forestry, finance, education, and commercial users. Its central value proposition is making changes on Earth visible and actionable through high-frequency imagery and increasingly AI-enabled analysis.
Planet had an indicated market capitalization of approximately $6.5 billion at the September 3, 2026 market close, although market capitalization changes continuously with the share price. The company reported approximately 945 full-time employees in profile data. It does not pay a dividend, and a meaningful P/E ratio is not applicable because it recorded a GAAP net loss during the reported quarter.
The fiscal second quarter ended July 31, 2026. Its results highlighted rapid growth in satellite services, government and defense-related demand, and AI-enabled geospatial applications, alongside a major improvement in adjusted EBITDA profitability.
Top Financial Highlights
- Record second-quarter revenue reached $116.1 million, up 58% year over year from $73.4 million.
- GAAP net loss narrowed to $9.4 million, compared with a $22.6 million loss in Q2 fiscal 2026.
- GAAP diluted net loss per share was $0.03; non-GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.02.
- Reported GAAP gross margin was 57%, versus 58% a year earlier.
- Non-GAAP gross margin was 59%, compared with 61% in the comparable prior-year quarter.
- Adjusted EBITDA turned into a profit of $13.9 million, more than double the $6.4 million reported in Q2 fiscal 2026.
- Revenue was supported by Planet’s integrated imagery, data, analytics, and satellite-services activities; the company did not disclose revenue by formal operating segment in its release.
- Recurring annual contract value accounted for 98% of end-of-period ACV, indicating a predominantly recurring-revenue profile.
- Remaining performance obligations totaled approximately $753.1 million; about 46% is expected to apply during the following 12 months.
- Backlog was approximately $814.9 million, with about 50% applicable over the next 12 months and 70% over the next 24 months.
- Year-to-date operating cash flow was $68.4 million, while year-to-date free cash flow totaled $21.3 million and adjusted free cash flow totaled $28.8 million.
- Cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments rose to $865.4 million, up 219% year over year. Planet also raised about $120 million through its at-the-market equity program during the quarter.
- Q3 fiscal 2027 guidance calls for revenue of $101 million–$105 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 56%–58%, adjusted EBITDA loss of $6 million–$1 million, and capex of $30 million–$37 million.
- Full-year fiscal 2027 guidance is $430 million–$441 million of revenue, non-GAAP gross margin of 55%–57%, adjusted EBITDA profit of $3 million–$10 million, and capital expenditure of $100 million–$115 million.
- Strategic developments included an $8 million NGA award, a German government satellite-services tender with a maximum possible value of €25 million over five years, a Rwanda Space Agency contract, Pelican-11’s launch, and the shipment of Tanager-2 and 18 SuperDoves for the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-18 mission.
Beat or Miss?
Planet delivered a clear quarterly beat against the available consensus estimates. Revenue was approximately 11% above the $104.2 million consensus cited by market-data reporting, while adjusted EPS of $0.02 compared favorably with expectations for a $0.02 per-share loss.
| Metric | Reported | Difference/Analysis |
| Revenue | $116.1 million | Beat consensus of $104.22 million by approximately $11.83 million, or about 11.4% |
| Adjusted EPS | $0.02 | Beat consensus expectation of a $0.02 loss by $0.04 per share |
| GAAP EPS | ($0.03) | N/A; the company remained GAAP unprofitable despite the improvement |
| Q3 FY2027 revenue guidance | $101 million–$105 million | The $103 million midpoint implies sequentially lower revenue than Q2, reflecting the timing of satellite-services revenue |
| FY2027 revenue guidance | $430 million–$441 million | The $435.5 million midpoint was broadly aligned with the cited $435.91 million consensus estimate |
| Q2 non-GAAP gross margin | 59% | Above the company’s full-year guidance range of 55%–57%, but below the 61% achieved in Q2 FY2026 |
What Leadership Is Saying
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Will Marshall emphasized the company’s growth strategy around AI-enabled analytics and sovereign satellite services:
“Planet delivered an outstanding second quarter, with record revenue of $116.1 million, representing 58% year-over-year growth and our fourth consecutive quarter of meeting or exceeding the Rule of 40.”
“To capture this momentum, our strategy pairs AI-enabled analytics with sovereign satellite services, merging our core growth vectors into an even more powerful offering.”
President and Chief Financial Officer Ashley Johnson focused on operating leverage, cash generation, and the balance-sheet capacity to fund growth initiatives:
“Our strong top-line performance is translating to significant operating leverage, exceeding our expectations on non-GAAP gross margins and driving adjusted EBITDA profit of $13.9 million for the quarter.”
“This strong performance, including year-to-date adjusted free cash flow of $28.8 million and an ending balance of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $865.4 million, allows us the strategic flexibility to confidently invest behind our core growth initiatives.”
Historical Performance
Planet’s Q2 fiscal 2027 results show substantial top-line acceleration and a marked reduction in losses. Revenue expansion outpaced the increase in operating expenses, which helped reduce the GAAP operating loss despite higher investment in R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions.
| Category | Q2 FY2027 | Q2 FY2026 | Change (%) |
| Revenue | $116.1 million | $73.4 million | 58.10% |
| Net income/(loss) | $(9.4 million) | $(22.6 million) | Loss narrowed by 58.6% |
| Gross profit | $65.6 million | $42.3 million | 55.30% |
| Total operating expenses | $79.1 million | $60.2 million | 31.40% |
| Loss from operations | $(13.5 million) | $(18.0 million) | Loss narrowed by 24.8% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $13.9 million | $6.4 million | 117.20% |
Peer Comparison Context
A direct competitor financial-comparison table cannot be prepared on a like-for-like basis from Planet’s earnings release because the company does not identify a defined peer group, and Earth-observation peers frequently have different reporting calendars, revenue-recognition models, satellite-service structures, and operating scales.
However, Planet’s own results indicate several competitive positioning points:
| Category | Q2 FY2027 | Q2 FY2026 | Change (%) |
| Planet revenue growth | $116.1 million | $73.4 million | 58.10% |
| Planet GAAP net loss | $(9.4 million) | $(22.6 million) | Loss narrowed by 58.6% |
| Planet operating expenses | $79.1 million | $60.2 million | 31.40% |
| Planet backlog | $814.9 million | Not disclosed in the supplied Q2 FY2026 comparison | N/A |
| Planet cash and short-term investments | $865.4 million | Approximately $271.3 million implied by stated 219% YoY increase | 219% |
For competitive research, Planet is increasingly positioning itself against a broader set of Earth-observation, geospatial intelligence, data-analytics, defense-technology, and sovereign satellite-service providers rather than only image-data vendors. Its recent contract activity with NGA, the German government, Rwanda Space Agency, and enterprise users tracking AI data centers illustrates that evolving mix.
How the Market Reacted?
PL shares closed the September 3 regular session at $18.35, down 8.2% from the prior close of $19.99, before the earnings announcement. In after-hours trading, the shares rebounded to about $19.16, a gain of approximately 4.4% from the regular-session close; other contemporaneous reporting indicated an intraday after-hours gain that briefly approached 8%–10%.
The initial positive reaction reflected the revenue and adjusted-EPS beat, record sales, positive adjusted EBITDA, and raised lower end of full-year guidance. The more restrained interpretation centered on Q3 guidance that implies a sequential revenue decline, the expected return to an adjusted EBITDA loss in Q3, and increased capex needs for Pelican, Owl, manufacturing expansion, and future satellite capacity.
