The surge in shares of Intuitive Machines experienced on Monday.
forward-thinking Tech Companies (LUNR 4.27%) began the week's abbreviated trading period with a positive start, surging over 20% in the initial sessions, only to settle at a 6.5% rise by 10:10 a.m. ET.
The trigger: In the morning hours, the company announced that NASA had awarded it more contracts for their Near Space Network (NSN) direct-to-Earth communication services.
Intuitive's significant contracts
If you remember back to September, it was a NSN contract from NASA that set this interstellar stock on fire, leading to a 60% increase in one day when NASA hired them to develop a communication system able to transmit data from Earth's orbit to the moon and back. Valued at $4.8 billion over a decade, this agreement was expected to significantly boost the company's current earnings of around $200 million for lunar lander delivery services.
Today's contracts task Intuitive with enhancing data transmission capabilities and ensuring autonomous operations for Earth-GEO satellite and cislunar spacecraft communication traffic as well as communication support for spacecraft in "highly elliptical orbits and deep space missions."
This seems like fantastic news for Intuitive Tech Companies shares. However, there's a potential downside.
A letdown for Intuitive Tech Companies shareholders
Unlike its September contract win, Intuitive Tech Companies did not specify a monetary value for today's contracts. And there appears to be a reason behind this.
Today's contracts are termed as "task orders," which, while vague, seems to suggest that they are part of the original $4.8 billion NSN contract, rather than an extra payment added to it. Admittedly, Intuitive also mentions that these new contracts "complement the existing NSN contract," which yields the opposite interpretation. The operational periods for the new task orders match those of the original contract, which implies that they may not add any additional revenue to Intuitive's coffers.
Even if my assumption is correct, let's not overlook the positive aspect. Intuitive still has its $4.8 billion mega-contract. That's still positive news for the stock.
Investors interested in finance and investing might be intrigued by Intuitive Tech Companies, as today's announcement of task orders from NASA could potentially enhance its NSN contract, improving data transmission capabilities and supporting spacecraft in various orbits. Despite the lack of a specified monetary value, the original $4.8 billion contract remains a significant source of income, continuing to be positive news for the stock.
