Gains and Losses Reported by Planet in 2025 Year-End Results
Company Reports Long-Term Revenue Visibility Continues to Improve
Planet Labs closed its 2026 fiscal year with record revenue growth, its first full year of adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow profitability, and a rapidly expanding government and defense backlog, even as GAAP results remained firmly in the red due largely to warrant-related accounting charges. In the fourth quarter, the Earth imaging company reported revenue of $86.8 million, a 41% increase year over year, bringing full-year revenue to $307.7 million, up 26% from fiscal 2025. Gross margins held steady, with Q4 gross margin at 54% (57% on a non-GAAP basis) and full-year gross margin at 56% (59% non-GAAP), roughly in line with last year on a non-GAAP basis.
“We delivered record revenue, with Q4 growing 41% year-on-year, and ended the year with $900 million of backlog, representing 79% growth year-on-year.”
Will Marshall. Planet
Those headline gains were tempered by substantial GAAP losses. Planet recorded a fourth-quarter net loss of $152.5 million and a full-year net loss of $246.9 million, figures that were heavily influenced by non-cash warrant liability revaluations tied to the company’s rising share price. The revaluation hit Q4 results with a $122.6 million charge and the full year with a $161.4 million charge, masking what management framed as a pivotal turn toward underlying profitability. On an adjusted basis, the company generated $2.3 million of EBITDA in the fourth quarter and $15.5 million for the full year, a sharp swing from the $10.6 million adjusted EBITDA loss recorded in fiscal 2025.
“Planet had a transformational year driven by strong momentum in satellite services, including most recently with Sweden, as well as launching 40 satellites, and inking an R&D partnership with Google to explore data centers in space,” said Will Marshall, Planet’s Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson. “We delivered record revenue, with Q4 growing 41% year-on-year, and ended the year with $900 million of backlog, representing 79% growth year-on-year. With this excellent backlog as well as our healthy pipeline, we project strong growth for this year and beyond. Consequently we’re leaning in and investing in the huge market opportunity in front of us. Just as satellite services were transformative last year, we expect AI to be transformative this year, enabling us to unlock massive markets even faster. In all, we’re playing to win.”
The shift to positive cash generation was even more pronounced. Over fiscal 2026, Planet produced $134.4 million in net cash from operating activities and $52.9 million in free cash flow, marking the company’s first full year of free cash flow positivity. That performance helped Planet close the year with a sizeable liquidity cushion: $640.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, up 188% year over year. Management emphasized that this war chest will fund the deployment of new satellites and continued investment in an AI-enabled product stack built on the company’s daily global imagery.
Beneath the income statement, Planet’s long-term revenue visibility continued to improve. Remaining performance obligations climbed 106% year over year to $852 million, while total backlog grew 79% to more than $900 million, underscoring a growing base of contracted future revenue. The company’s business model remains heavily subscription-driven, with recurring annual contract value representing 98% of total ACV at year-end, even as satellite services emerge as a larger piece of the mix.
“We delivered record revenue, our first fiscal year of Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow profitability, and closed the year with $640 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments,” said Ashley Johnson, Planet’s president and CFO. “Achieving these major milestones is a direct reflection of the hard work and dedication of our global teams. Their unwavering commitment to delivering innovative solutions and exceptional value for our customers has strengthened our financial foundation and positioned us for sustainable, profitable growth.”
Government and defense customers featured prominently in the quarter’s wins. Planet announced a multi-year, low nine-figure satellite services contract with the Swedish Armed Forces, its third satellite services deal in 12 months, to deliver satellites, data, and situational awareness tools in support of Sweden’s national security. In the United States, the Defense Innovation Unit extended a seven-figure INDOPACOM pilot focused on indications and warnings, and exercised a separate Hybrid Space Architecture option valued at just under $1 million to showcase Planet’s next-generation high-resolution Pelican satellites within a resilient, hybrid space network. NATO’s Allied Command Transformation renewed a seven-figure agreement for persistent space-based surveillance, while Germany’s Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy expanded its own seven-figure renewal, extending access to more than 400 institutions and leveraging Planet data to monitor permafrost thaw and other environmental changes in the Arctic.
The civil and commercial side of the business also continued to mature, particularly in infrastructure, climate and land management use cases. In Europe, Slovenia’s Surveying and Mapping Authority signed an enterprise-scale agreement to use Planet’s nationwide satellite imagery and high-resolution tasking across a range of civil agencies, spanning agriculture, urban planning, and disaster management. In the United States, San Diego Gas & Electric renewed a three-year agreement, extending a long-running collaboration that integrates Planet data into wildfire risk models and day-to-day operational decision-making for the utility’s Southern California service territory. Planet further deepened its presence in the utility wildfire mitigation space through a strategic partnership with AiDASH, under which Planet becomes the preferred provider of daily and weekly fuel monitoring data for AiDASH’s wildfire risk platform in North America, with early traction among investor-owned utilities seeking more precise fuel treatments and reduced ignition risk.
Looking ahead, Planet is signaling a willingness to trade near-term margin expansion for growth. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, which ends April 30, 2026, the company is guiding to revenue between $87 million and $91 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 49% to 51%, and an adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $3 million to $6 million, alongside capital expenditures of $17 million to $23 million as it continues to invest in fleet and infrastructure. For the full fiscal year 2027, Planet expects revenue between $415 million and $440 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 50% to 52%, and adjusted EBITDA between break-even and $10 million, with capex forecast at $80 million to $95 million. Marshall and his team framed this guidance as a deliberate choice to “lean in” to what they describe as a large and rapidly evolving market opportunity, betting that AI applied to Planet’s daily global dataset and an expanding slate of satellite services contracts can unlock “massive markets” and sustain profitable growth over the longer term.