Viasat Sees 29% Growth in 3Q in New Contract Awards

Viasat headquarters in Carlsbad, California. Photo: Viasat

Viasat posted 2019 Third Quarter (3Q) sales of $588.2 million, a 6% jump from the same time period last year, according to the company’s 3Q financial results issued Feb. 6. New contract awards grew 29% to $577.4 million for the quarter, which Viasat said reflects its momentum across its government, U.S. fixed broadband, and commercial aviation businesses

Both Satellite Services and Government Systems posted double-digit quarterly and year-to-date revenue gains. Satellite Services reached a quarterly revenue record of $211.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 19%. Government Systems revenue reached $291.8 million, a year-over-year increase of 17%.

Revenues for the Commercial Networks segment were $84.7 million, a 33% decrease year-over-year, reflecting the year-ago period’s accelerated In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) equipment installations for American Airlines; on a sequential quarter basis IFC terminal deliveries were up despite the continued grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

Viasat Chairman and CEO Mark Dankberg said the company is seeing “enormous” demand for bandwidth, and highlighted that the company is focused on delivering its ViaSat-3 constellation into service. 

“We achieved another quarter of solid revenue growth and margin improvement in our Q3 of fiscal year 2020,” Dankberg said. “We’re building on a differentiated foundation of business fundamentals in our government systems and satellite services segments. New contract awards and backlog signal continued momentum, and build confidence in a strong finish to our fiscal year 2020 and on into fiscal year 2021.”