$LUNR Shares Skyrocket +63% Off Seismic $4.82 Billion NASA Deal... (Houston, We May Have A Winner)

Well, let’s just say it’s been a pretty dayum good week for Intuitive Machines, the Houston-based space tech company that's now firmly planted itself on Wall Street’s radar. How good, you ask? Oh, just the kind of week where your stock price takes a +63.52% moonshot in after-hours trading because NASA handed you a contract that could be worth up to $4.82 billion. You know, no big deal.

(Source: Yahoo Finance) 

What’s even more interesting though, is that this surge in Intuitive’s stock price legit happened right after the stock dropped -5.6% during regular trading hours. Talk about turning the friggin tables.

(Source: Giphy) 

In short, this seismic uptick in price all came down to NASA handing Intuitive Machines a nice deal in their Near Space Network (NSN) contract.Translation: they’re about to take over communication and navigation in the near space region (think: from Earth’s surface up to beyond the Moon). Whereas the terms, are a Firm-Fixed-Price, Multiple Award, Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) Task Order Contract—which is basically NASA saying “we’ll keep paying you for work over the next decade as long as you don’t f^^k it up”. 

(Source: Reuters) 

Now the contract size, like mentioned above, is a whopping $4.82 billion. Which is absolutely seismic for Intuitive Machines, aka a company that was chilling with a $313 million market cap before this announcement. So clearly, the company just got called up to the big leagues… and according to CEO Steve Altemus (a last name suited for a space company), this deal is a true “inflection point” for the sub $10 per share company. 

But, but, but… here’s where it gets really cool for Intuitive and its investors. Simply put, Intuitive Machines isn’t just some random space contractor. They’re planning to launch a lunar satellite constellation—basically, Wi-Fi for the Moon. 

(Source: NewsBytes) 

So instead of making your doom scrolling on Instagram faster, it’s actually doing something more productive for the space industry: Helping NASA talk to spacecraft and run autonomous operations in the cislunar region (that’s the space between Earth and the Moon, for those of us who didn’t ace astrophysics).

But why Intuitive Machines? Sure, NASA could’ve went with more well known companies like Starlink, or AST Spacemobile (companies that have grown quite prominent in the space race), yet… They've decided to go with small town Intuitive Machines to take the workload for lunar domination. Why? 

(Source: Giphy) 

Well according to the contract, this is a three part-game plan for lunar efficiency that NASA is trying to conquer within its Artemis Program that includes: delivery, data transmission, and autonomous ops. Whereas, in what seems like the right place at the right time, Intuitive Machines has already proven they can pull something like this off. For instance, earlier this year, Intuitive stuck the landing (literally) when they successfully plopped a robot on the Moon - with their next mission, IM-2, scheduled for later this year, with IM-3 already locked in for October 2025.

(Source: BBC) 

So clearly, Intuitive Machines knows how to navigate its technology throughout space, and it obviously has NASA throbbing with excitement. You see, NASA needs reliable communication infrastructure for its lunar missions, and Intuitive’s tech could be the backbone of that comms network. Think of it like Verizon, but for astronauts instead of your grandmother who still complains about her cell reception.

(Source: Giphy) 

However, with that said, before NASA dropped this golden ticket into Intuitive’s lap, the company had a market cap of just $313 million and pulled in less than $158 million in total revenue last year. Fast forward to now, and they’re staring down the barrel of a potential $4.82 billion payday. Which again, is the kind of deal that can transform a niche space company into a major player overnight.

And that, my friends, is why Wall Street is starting to take notice. Analysts are already hyping up the stock. Andres Sheppard, a senior analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, called the deal “significant validation” of Intuitive’s future. Translation: if you’ve been sleeping on Intuitive Machines, it’s time to wake up. 

(Source: CNBC) 

On the other hand though, while this contract is a seismic jolt in investor confidence for the company, Intuitive is still trading at a pretty spicy valuation compared to its -$0.73 diluted EPS, and the cash flow to justify it is still a couple of years away. So while this definitely screams of a “massive opportunity” (especially after a 63% explosion in share price), there is definitely an element of risk associated with this contract - especially if things don’t go exactly according to plan (and let’s be honest, this is space. Things tend to go boom from time to time).

(Source: Giphy) 

In the end, for investors, this deal is the kind of development that gets the adrenaline pumping. On the one hand, you’ve got a company with a history of space wins and a shiny new $4.82 billion opportunity from NASA. On the other hand, you’ve got a stock price that’s already flying high and a company that needs to grow like a weed to justify its valuation.

(Source: Giphy) 

So obviously do what you will with this information, but it’s obvious to keep an eye on Intuitive for the time being. Even though the stock has surged +63%, the price is still cheap enough to get greed gland juices flowing (see: $8.78 at the time of this writing). However, only time will tell if Intuitive is a biscuit that’s worth the risk. 

In the meantime, keep an eye on Intuitive and as always stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time… 

P.S. While Free Stocks.News readers eventually get our alerts (think 15-20 minutes after premium members), it’s likely you’ll miss out on the big move. Why? Well, for instance, on our last alert, we dropped $OBLG to our premium members at 9:48 EST when it was chilling at a price of $3.60. However, in less than 5 minutes after alerting our premium members, $OBLG shot up $51.22% to $5.45! Meaning, FREE readers ended up missing out on 50+% of the move BEFORE they even saw the opportunity. Talk about leaving money on the table. So if that doesn’t sit right with you, and you don’t want to miss the chunk of the move during our next alert… click here immediately for the details. 

Stocks.News holds positions in Verizon as mentioned in the article.