It’s hard to overstate the impact of Space Exploration Technologies and its record-setting IPO on the stock market. SpaceX raised nearly $86 billion in its IPO on June 12, making it the largest IPO in history and giving Elon Musk’s company a $2 trillion valuation.
SpaceX has arguably been the biggest narrative in the stock market this summer, as even some major indexes have changed their rules to allow large IPO stocks like SpaceX to join more quickly than usual. But it’s far from a perfect stock — SpaceX already carries an extremely high valuation, and it will be years before it turns a profit. Meanwhile, IPO stocks are notoriously volatile, and many of them need several quarters of performance before they start generating consistent gains.
However, some interesting artificial intelligence (AI) space stocks already have a track record of performance. Planet Labs (PL 4.28%) and BlackSky Technology (BKSY 3.64%) are two that are worth considering right now.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Planet Labs
There’s a lot of activity around the Earth — thousands of satellites are already in orbit, with more coming online every year. They include surveillance satellites operated by nation-states such as the U.S., as well as commercial satellites that provide internet access, communications, and Earth imagery.
That’s where Planet Labs comes in. The company specializes in Earth imaging for agriculture, forestry, mapping, and government use. It operates about 200 Earth-imaging satellites and records the planet’s landmass every day.
Today’s Change
(-4.28%) $-1.17
Current Price
$26.04
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$9.7BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.Market cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$25.36 – $27.22
52wk Range
$5.87 – $51.76
Volume
212.3K
Avg Vol
13.1M
Gross Margin
55.46%
The company’s Pelican-class satellites use AI to process images and quickly identify subjects, and have incorporated Claude AI from Anthropic into its platform to help non-expert users use information from the company’s satellites.
Revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 (ended April 30) was $94 million, up 42% from a year ago. It reported a quarterly loss of $1 million, adjusted for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), and its backlog grew 72% to more than $906 million.
Planet Labs stock is up more than 45% so far this year.
2. BlackSky Technology
BlackSky is another Earth imaging company. BlackSky uses its constellation of high-resolution satellites and AI-enabled software, delivered through its Spectra platform, to provide real-time Earth observation and analytics.
Spectra uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and classify vessels, vehicles, and aircraft, and can translate raw pixels into AI-driven analytics in less than 90 minutes. Its capabilities have allowed BlackSky to win government contracts valued up to $2.7 billion.
Today’s Change
(-3.64%) $-0.93
Current Price
$24.62
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$948MMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.Market cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$23.94 – $25.67
52wk Range
$12.41 – $52.88
Volume
10.6K
Avg Vol
2.2M
Gross Margin
36.21%
BlackSky won $160 million in contracts in the first quarter of the year, and built on that this week when it announced it won a series of U.S. government contracts to use its AI-enabled object detection algorithms and automated battle damage analytics to help its customers evaluate damage inflicted on targets after military engagements.
The stock is up 40% so far this year.