MW This space stock is up more than 400% this year as second moon mission looms
By James Rogers
Shares of space-exploration company Intuitive Machines are on pace to extend their winning streak to four days
Shares of Intuitive Machines Inc. continued their climb Tuesday as the space-exploration company plans to send its second historic mission to the lunar surface early next year.
Intuitive Machines' (LUNR) stock ended Monday's session up 10.7%, registering its biggest daily percentage gain since Nov. 29, when it gained 13.2%. Shares of Intuitive Machines are up 2.3% Tuesday, putting it on pace for a four-day winning streak - its longest since a five-day winning streak that ended on Nov. 11, 2024. The stock is up 419.4% in 2024.
Short interest as a percentage of Intuitive Machines' public float of shares is 20.5%, according to the latest exchange data.
Related: Intuitive Machines' stock soars as company preps second moon mission for early 2025
On Monday, telecommunications giant Nokia Corp. $(NOK)$ wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it will be deploying the first cellular network on the moon next year during Intuitive Machines' uncrewed IM-2 mission. In a statement released earlier this year, Nokia Bell Labs said that it will deploy a "network in a box" containing a single Nokia base station that will connect with Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lunar lander with two vehicles - Lunar Outpost's MAPP Rover and Intuitive Machines' Micro-Nova hopper. "The successful testing of this small network will set the stage for much more sophisticated and expansive networks on future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars," Nokia said in the statement.
In a statement released in August, spaceflight and space infrastructure company Axiom Space said that it is also partnering with Nokia to enable high-speed cellular network capabilities in lunar spacesuits.
Intuitive Machines has garnered plenty of attention in 2024. The Houston-based company's Odysseus lander became the first commercial lander to successfully land on the moon's surface earlier this year. During a conference call to discuss Intuitive Machines' third-quarter results last month, Chief Executive Steve Altemus said the company's IM-2 mission is on track to fly in the first quarter of 2025, with a February launch window. The CEO said IM-2 is a "very complicated" prospecting mission that will deploy a drill, hopper and rover on the lunar surface.
Related: Space stocks climb again as 'momentum sector' drives gains
In September Intuitive Machines shares soared after the company announced that NASA had awarded it the Near Space Network contract for communication and navigation services for missions in the near-space region, which extends from Earth's surface to beyond the Moon. The contract could be worth up to $4.82 billion.
In late August, Intuitive Machines was awarded a $116.9 million NASA contract to deliver six science and technology payloads to the moon's south pole. One of the payloads is a European Space Agency-led drill suite, the company said in a statement.
Last month Benchmark raised its Intuitive Machines price target to $16 from $10. In a note, Benchmark analyst Josh Sullivan cited the company's successful commercial model approach to space infrastructure, which "becomes even more of an asset under the new Administration."
Related: A huge NASA contract has sent Intuitive Machines' stock skyrocketing. This analyst sees even more upside.
Cantor raised its price target for Intuitive Machines last month, to $15 from $10, citing the company's higher revenues, additional contracted awards, and higher peer multiples.
Of six analysts surveyed by FactSet, one has an overweight rating and five have a buy rating for Intuitive Machines.
-James Rogers
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2024 10:23 ET (15:23 GMT)
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