The IM-1 “Odysseus” lander in lunar orbit on February 21, 2024.
Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is building on the successes of its inaugural moon mission, reporting fourth-quarter results on Thursday and saying it now has “adequate capital for the foreseeable future.”
The lunar company revealed that its cash balance at the end of the year was just $4.5 million – partly the result of paying down $12 million in debt from its balance sheet. After its historic moon landing in February, the company saw about $50 million in “warrant exercises from an institutional investor” and raised $10 million through equity.
Intuitive Machines highlighted that the cash balance of nearly $55 million as of March 1 was “the largest balance of any quarter since the Company’s IPO.”
“We are coming into 2024 from a position of financial strength. We have expanded our cash position with lower debt, increased backlog, our margins are improving and our future opportunities are brighter than ever,” said Intuitive Machines Interim CFO Steve Vontur on the company’s earnings call.
Intuitive Machines’ net income for the quarter quarter was $4.6 million, down 63% from $12.4 million in the same period last year. Revenue was also lower for the quarter at $30.6 million, representing a 20% year-over-year decline from $38 million a year ago.
Shares of Intuitive Machines fell 2% in Thursday trading from their previous close of $5.61.
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The company pointed to its recently improved backlog, as well as a number of upcoming potential NASA contracts, as further building on the momentum gained from the company’s inaugural mission to the moon.
In total, Intuitive Machines had nearly $270 million in backlog at the end of the year.
“We expect sales to expand significantly this year based on the current backlog,” Vontur said.
Intuitive Machines began generating revenue from a multi-year engineering services contract from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, with $12.5 million in work done in December — a monthly rate the company expects to continue into next year.
In addition, the Houston-based company highlighted three upcoming potential NASA contract awards, including building an astronaut-capable lunar rover, providing lunar data services and additional lunar mission contracts.
The first of these awards, NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle program, is scheduled to be announced on April 3. The LTV effort is planned to be a 10-year, $4.5 billion program to build a car-like rover to carry astronauts to the surface of the moon. Intuitive Machines leads a team that includes Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Michelin and priced its bid for a preliminary design contract at about $30 million over one year. The company expects NASA to award multiple design contracts.
“We’re very confident in our capabilities and our design and can’t wait to hear about it,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus.
Preparation for second mission
The landing gear of Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander absorbs the first contact with the lunar surface during its landing at the Malapert A site on the Moon as its liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine continues to fly, February 22, 2024.
Intuitive machines | Via Reuters
Intuitive Machines made its first cargo shipment, called IM-1, on the moon last month. The craft landed successfully before capsizing, but was still able to operate for about a week on the surface in a historic first for a private mission.
Intuitive Machines has completed a review of its first lunar payload mission, Altemus said, and is now “identifying the areas that needed tweaking” for its second attempt.
“We are still planning a mission for IM-2 in 2024,” Altemus said.
The company highlighted a number of milestones completed leading up to the IM-2 flight, including testing different payloads that Intuitive Machines’ lander will carry – including the Micro Nova “rocket-powered drone” and a NASA ice mining drill.