Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Shares of Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) gapped down before the market opened on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $4.24, but opened at $3.61. Planet Labs PBC shares last traded at $3.45, with a volume of 4,311,122 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.06). Planet Labs PBC had a negative return on equity of 24.16% and a negative net margin of 48.88%. The business had revenue of $61.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $6.30 price target on shares of Planet Labs PBC in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $5.00 to $6.40 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Craig Hallum raised Planet Labs PBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Planet Labs PBC from $4.05 to $5.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Planet Labs PBC

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Planet Labs PBC by 790.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 6,072 shares during the last quarter. Monterey Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Planet Labs PBC during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Planet Labs PBC during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Planet Labs PBC during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Planet Labs PBC during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Planet Labs PBC Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 1.45.

About Planet Labs PBC

Planet Labs PBC engages in the design, construction, and launch constellations of satellites with the intent of providing high cadence geospatial data delivered to customers through an online platform worldwide. The company’s platform offers planet monitoring, basemap, tasking, apps, and application programming interfaces, as well as analytics and planetary variables.