# Planet Labs PBC (PL.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/PL

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:31:13.367Z. Financial observations: FY2020–FY2027.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $14.54 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 0 revenue declines in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 8 years

- Years with declining revenue: 0

- Years with a net loss: 8

- Operating margin variation: 0.42×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2020: -1.11×

- FY2021: -0.77×

- FY2022: -0.98×

- FY2023: -0.92×

- FY2024: -0.77×

- FY2025: -0.48×

- FY2026: -0.31×

- LTM to Jul 2026: -0.27×

### moat: fail

- Years with nonpositive invested capital use equity plus debt and leases; positive earnings with no positive capital are shown above 100%.

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -109.1%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -186.4%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -5.3 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 50.2%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 55.4%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 1

- Capital spending / revenue: 22.1%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -54.4%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2020: -51.0%

- FY2021: -61.8%

- FY2022: -186.4%

- FY2023: -181.1%

- FY2024: -124.4%

- FY2025: -93.7%

- FY2026: -11.5%

- LTM to Jul 2026: -1808.9%

### economics: fail

- owner earnings cash conversion below threshold

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: -$1.0B

- Net income, five-year total: -$1.0B

- Return on incremental invested capital: 15.0%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -2.2 pp

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2023: -$131M

- FY2024: -$135M

- FY2025: -$122M

- FY2026: -$247M

- LTM to Jul 2026: -$370M

### management: fail

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks unrelated to price (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: -61.8% vs -93.7%

- Per-share earnings: -2.87 to -0.50 (three-year endpoint medians)

- per-share value declined or ends nonpositive

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 47.4%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 47.4%

- Per-share value change: $2.37

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$2.87

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: -$0.50

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): -0.50

- Average buyback yield: 1.0%

- Buyback history: 3 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- ROIC, first three-year median: -61.8%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -93.7%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2020: -$2.89

- FY2021: -$2.87

- FY2022: -$1.72

- FY2023: -$0.61

- FY2024: -$0.50

- FY2025: -$0.42

- FY2026: -$0.80

### accounting: pass

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: -33.3%

- Receivables to sales index (DSRI): 1.19×

- Restructuring years, last five: 2

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 40.9%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Accounting red flags: 1

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.90×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2020: -24.8%

- FY2021: -30.8%

- FY2022: -11.6%

- FY2023: -11.7%

- FY2024: -12.8%

- FY2025: -17.2%

- FY2026: -33.3%

## Holders

- [Dan Davidowitz](https://gigainvestors.com/pcm): tracked 13F investor; follow the investor page for holding quarter and amounts.

## Price story

Down 72% since May 2026 · "PL Q2 Deep Dive: Strong Revenue Driven by Defense, Guidance Falls Short of Expectations" (finance.yahoo.com, Sep 2026) · sales +22.9%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:24.579Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-06-12: NATO selects Planet Labs for landmark seven-figure contract, stock jumps ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4457638-nato-selects-planet-labs-for-landmark-seven-figure-contract-stock-jumps?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2025-07-01: Planet Labs secures €240 million contract with German government ([investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/company-news/planet-labs-secures-240-million-contract-with-german-government-93CH-4119487))

- 2025-09-08: Planet Labs Lifts Outlook With Record Backlog And Strategic Global Contracts ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/planet-labs-lifts-outlook-record-135109157.html))

- 2025-12-11: Planet Labs outlines $297M–$301M FY26 revenue outlook while advancing AI and satellite services ([seekingalpha.com](https://seekingalpha.com/news/4530386-planet-labs-outlines-297m-301m-fy26-revenue-outlook-while-advancing-ai-and-satellite-services?utm_source=feed_news_all&utm_medium=referral&feed_item_type=news))

- 2026-03-20: Planet Labs stock up 20% on record revenue, UBS wins US bank charter ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/video/planet-labs-stock-20-record-180727138.html))

- 2026-09-04: PL Q2 Deep Dive: Strong Revenue Driven by Defense, Guidance Falls Short of Expectations ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/pl-q2-deep-dive-strong-231010882.html))

### Sales · FY2026–2027

sales +22.9%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1836833/000119312526119957/pl-20260131.htm; observed 2026-03-23.

- FY2020: $96M 

- FY2021: $113M 

- FY2022: $131M 

- FY2023: $191M 

- FY2024: $221M 

- FY2025: $244M 

- FY2026: $308M 

- FY2027: $378M 

### Gross margin · FY2027

gross margin 55.4%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1836833/000119312526119957/pl-20260131.htm; observed 2026-03-23.

- FY2021: 22.8% 

- FY2022: 36.8% 

- FY2023: 49.2% 

- FY2024: 51.2% 

- FY2025: 57.2% 

- FY2026: 56.1% 

- FY2027: 55.4% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in aerospace & defense; annual sales are USD 307.7 million.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1836833/000119312526119957/pl-20260131.htm (filed 2026-03-23); FY2026: revenue 307727000; grossProfit 172485000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); PL.US: Planet Labs PBC engages in the design, construction, and launch of constellations of satellites with the intent of providing high-cadence geospatial data delivered to customers through an online platform in the United States and internationally. The company offers SuperDove satellites to create an always-online scanner for the planet, with the goal of imaging the Earth every day at a ground sampling distance (GSD) resolution of up to 3.5 meters. This combines planet monitoring with other scientific-grade radiometric data from public satellite data programs; and SkySat and Pelican satellites to capture a specified location several times per day, achieving a GSD resolution of up to 50 centimeters after processing, powered by an application programming interface. It also provides Tanager, a hyperspectral imaging satellite that delivers full-spectrum imagery across the visible and shortwave infrared regions, and the Earth Observation platform, which enables customers and partners to access, analyze, and act on its proprietary data catalog by discovering image tasking capacity, relevant data layers, extracting useful information, and delivering insights through custom-built solutions or GIS workflows via APIs and browser-based applications. In addition, the company's satellite services arrangements include designing and manufacturing customer-owned satellites, mission systems engineering, launch procurement, ground station infrastructure, satellite operations, and maintenance, as well as dedicated image tasking capacity on company-owned or customer-owned satellites. It serves agriculture, mapping, energy, forestry, finance, and insurance companies, as well as government agencies. Planet Labs PBC was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 51.2% to 57.2% during 2024–26.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-23); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 51.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-23); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 57.2%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1836833/000119312526119957/pl-20260131.htm (filed 2026-03-23); FY2026: grossProfit / revenue = 56.1%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-23); 8-year return on capital observations [[2020,-0.5096372692787803],[2021,-0.617931497168824],[2022,-1.8642247162022705],[2023,-1.81117701563438],[2024,-1.2441519691979404],[2025,-0.9372618694892569],[2026,-0.11538854006154452],[2027,-18.088658346333855]]; median -1.0907069193435985. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Paid no dividends in 7 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-23); Dividend observations: [[2020,0],[2021,0],[2022,0],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0],[2026,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 1.3% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); PL.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 1.2670000000000001 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 14.5 times annual sales; cash earnings are negative.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-03-23); Closing price 14.54 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2026 annual sales per share 0.9997647039131561; price multiple 14.54342201028834. FY2026 cash earnings/share -0.802015795845024. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2021-04: $9.92 per share

- 2021-05: $9.85 per share

- 2021-06: $9.77 per share

- 2021-07: $9.86 per share

- 2021-08: $9.91 per share

- 2021-09: $9.91 per share

- 2021-10: $10.13 per share

- 2021-11: $10.00 per share

- 2021-12: $6.15 per share

- 2022-01: $6.10 per share

- 2022-02: $5.64 per share

- 2022-03: $5.08 per share

- 2022-04: $5.03 per share

- 2022-05: $6.08 per share

- 2022-06: $4.33 per share

- 2022-07: $5.33 per share

- 2022-08: $5.48 per share

- 2022-09: $5.43 per share

- 2022-10: $5.25 per share

- 2022-11: $5.41 per share

- 2022-12: $4.35 per share

- 2023-01: $4.95 per share

- 2023-02: $4.61 per share

- 2023-03: $3.93 per share

- 2023-04: $4.08 per share

- 2023-05: $4.59 per share

- 2023-06: $3.22 per share

- 2023-07: $3.72 per share

- 2023-08: $3.25 per share

- 2023-09: $2.60 per share

- 2023-10: $2.16 per share

- 2023-11: $2.43 per share

- 2023-12: $2.47 per share

- 2024-01: $2.26 per share

- 2024-02: $2.19 per share

- 2024-03: $2.55 per share

- 2024-04: $1.69 per share

- 2024-05: $1.86 per share

- 2024-06: $1.86 per share

- 2024-07: $2.54 per share

- 2024-08: $2.69 per share

- 2024-09: $2.23 per share

- 2024-10: $2.21 per share

- 2024-11: $3.93 per share

- 2024-12: $4.04 per share

- 2025-01: $6.10 per share

- 2025-02: $4.62 per share

- 2025-03: $3.38 per share

- 2025-04: $3.29 per share

- 2025-05: $3.84 per share

- 2025-06: $6.10 per share

- 2025-07: $6.25 per share

- 2025-08: $7.09 per share

- 2025-09: $12.98 per share

- 2025-10: $13.45 per share

- 2025-11: $11.90 per share

- 2025-12: $19.72 per share

- 2026-01: $24.97 per share

- 2026-02: $24.14 per share

- 2026-03: $27.95 per share

- 2026-04: $36.97 per share

- 2026-05: $51.14 per share

- 2026-06: $33.13 per share

- 2026-07: $20.48 per share

- 2026-08: $19.85 per share

- 2026-09: $16.39 per share

- 2026-10: $14.54 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1836833/000119312526119957/pl-20260131.htm); period 2026-01-31, filed 2026-03-23.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.

## Reported holder observations

- [Dan Davidowitz](https://gigainvestors.com/pcm): 149,211 PL shares; USD 4,943,000 reported position value; 0.04% of portfolio; reduce; quarter 2026 Q2.

# PL — Planet Labs PBC

Held by 1 investor · USD 4,943,000 total · 2026 Q2 · reported price USD 33.13 (split-adjusted).
Page: https://gigainvestors.com/s/PL

## Holders (2026 Q2)

| Investor | Value | % of their portfolio | This quarter |
|---|---:|---:|---|
| Dan Davidowitz (https://gigainvestors.com/pcm) | USD 4,943,000 | <0.1% | reduce -30.25% |

## Total held by quarter

- 2025 Q4: USD 2,199,529 · 1 holder · USD 19.72
- 2026 Q1: USD 5,978,896 · 1 holder · USD 27.95
- 2026 Q2: USD 4,943,000 · 1 holder · USD 33.13