Expanding Lunar And Deep Space Markets Will Drive Long-Term Success

Key Takeaways

• Diversified offerings in lunar transport, data, and infrastructure-bolstered by strategic partnerships and contracts-position the company for expanding, consistent, and scalable revenue streams.
  
• Vertical integration, proprietary tech, and entry into high-margin adjacent markets support enhanced profitability, differentiation, and long-term competitive advantage.
  
• Heavy dependence on large government contracts, ongoing losses, heightened execution risks, and increased competition threaten revenue stability, profitability, and long-term growth prospects.

Catalysts

Designs, manufactures, and operates space products and services in the United States.

• The accelerating commercial use of space-both by public space agencies and private enterprises-is expanding the total addressable market for lunar transport, data transmission, and infrastructure services; Intuitive Machines' sole-source NASA Near Space Network (NSNS) contract, expansion into Mars relay and data services, and pipeline for defense-related lunar missions position the company for substantial revenue growth as global demand for lunar and deep space access scales in the coming decade.
  
• Strategic vertical integration of satellite and lander manufacturing, along with proprietary advancements from the KinetX acquisition, enhances cost efficiencies, IP control, and technological differentiation, supporting higher net margins and competitive pricing power as the company scales recurrent service contracts across civil, defense, and commercial markets.
  
• Partnerships with key agencies (NASA, U.S. Space Force, Air Force Research Lab), as well as groundwork for participating in deep space infrastructure commercialization (e.g., Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex), provide strong long-term contract visibility and backlog growth, improving revenue consistency and supporting improved valuation multiples.
  
• Ongoing expansion into high-margin, adjacent markets-including lunar surface mobility, in-space networking, reentry vehicles for biopharma and semiconductor transport, and potentially lunar nuclear power-creates new scalable, diversified earnings streams with multi-year and multi-billion-dollar revenue potential, helping offset the lumpiness inherent in "success-based" mission awards.
  
• Increased government budgets for civil, defense, and lunar infrastructure amid heightened geopolitical focus on cislunar dominance support robust long-term funding and contracting opportunities, while Intuitive Machines' demonstrated technical expertise and flight heritage give it pole position for transformative, recurring, and follow-on awards that can drive step-function growth in backlog, revenue, and profitability.

Intuitive Machines Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Intuitive Machines's revenue will grow by 30.5% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from -107.0% today to 8.2% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $41.2 million (and earnings per share of $0.34) by about August 2028, up from $-241.8 million today.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 97.9x on those 2028 earnings, up from -4.4x today. This future PE is greater than the current PE for the US Aerospace & Defense industry at 33.9x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 7.0% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 7.61%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Intuitive Machines Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Heavy reliance on a small number of large government contracts (NASA, defense agencies) exposes Intuitive Machines to significant revenue volatility if program awards are delayed, canceled, or reprioritized due to shifting government budgets, impacting near
• and long-term backlog and revenue stability.
  
• Persistent negative gross margins, operating losses, and negative free cash flow, as highlighted by recent EAC (Estimate at Completion) adjustments and elevated capital expenditures, suggest ongoing execution risk and the potential for protracted unprofitability, challenging their path to sustained earnings growth.
  
• Vertical integration and rapid facility expansion to bring satellite manufacturing in-house increase fixed costs-raising the company's operating leverage and execution risk, which could amplify the financial impact of any schedule delays, cost overruns, or underutilized capacity, thereby reducing net margins and cash flow.
  
• The company's "hard things first" cadence-namely annual lunar missions-means revenues are concentrated in binary, high-risk milestone events, and continued technical setbacks or failures could result in both direct financial loss and reputational damage, undermining long-term contract wins and future earnings.
  
• Although Intuitive Machines claims a competitive moat via sole-source wins like NSNS, accelerating competition from new entrants and established players, along with the risk of price compression and commoditization in lunar and deep space services, may put pressure on gross margins and long-term profitability as the sector matures.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of $14.833 for Intuitive Machines based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $19.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $10.5.
  
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $502.2 million, earnings will come to $41.2 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 97.9x, assuming you use a discount rate of 7.6%.
  
• Given the current share price of $8.99, the analyst price target of $14.83 is 39.4% higher.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.