r/wallstreetbets Mar 20, 01:51 PM
Planet Labs - A Short Story THE TLDR FOR THE SMOOTH-BRAINED:
Planet Labs takes pictures of Earth from space every single day. Governments, militaries, hedge funds, and farmers pay them a lot of money for those pictures. Yesterday, they reported their first full year of profitability. The backlog just hit $900 million. The stock ripped 31% today, and I think this is the beginning, not the end.
Let me explain.
WHAT DOES PLANET ACTUALLY DO
Imagine Google Maps, but it updates every 24 hours instead of every few years, and the CIA uses it. That’s basically Planet. They operate the largest constellation of Earth observation satellites on the planet (pun intended), imaging virtually the entire surface of Earth daily. Governments use it to track troop movements. Hedge funds use it to count cars in Walmart parking lots. Farmers use it to monitor crop health. The use cases are genuinely limitless and they expand every year with AI.
They’re not trying to be SpaceX. They’re not trying to colonize Mars. They’re the picks-and-shovels play for everyone who needs to see what’s happening on Earth in near real-time. Boring? Maybe. Investable? Let’s talk.
THE NUMBERS (Fresh from YESTERDAY’S earnings call)
Full year revenue came in at a record $308 million, representing approximately 26% year-over-year growth. Q4 alone grew 41% year-over-year. 
For context, this company was growing at \~11% YoY a year ago. The acceleration is real and it’s not slowing down.
End-of-period Remaining Performance Obligations (RPOs) hit $852 million, up \~106% year-over-year. About 34% of that converts to revenue in the next 12 months, and 65% within 24 months. 
Translation for the non-finance crowd: RPO is essentially money they are contractually owed. It’s not a pipeline or a wish. It’s signed contracts waiting to be recognized as revenue. At $852M in RPOs vs. $308M in annual revenue, they have nearly 3 years of revenue already locked in and growing.
Total backlog hit $900 million, up 79% year-over-year. 
This was also their first full fiscal year of non-GAAP profitability and positive free cash flow.  This is the inflection point. The “are they going to survive?” question is off the table. Now it’s “how big can they get?”
THE GUIDANCE (Why I’m Actually Excited)
For FY2027, management guided revenue of $415–$440 million. For Q1 alone, they’re guiding $87–$91 million. 
That’s ~35–43% revenue growth projected for next year. On top of a year where they already grew 26%. If they hit the midpoint of guidance, this is a company nearly doubling revenue in two years while achieving profitability.
THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACT MOAT (The Part Most Retail Investors Sleep On)
This is where the story gets genuinely compelling. Planet isn’t just selling imagery subscriptions to random companies. They are becoming infrastructure for Western defense.
In the past year alone, they signed a €240 million multi-year deal with Germany, a nine-figure agreement with Sweden, and received awards from NATO and the U.S. Mis