Inflight internet services generated $324 million in revenue for Viasat last quarter, as the number of installed aircraft reached a new record. But the company’s pending installation backlog continues to shrink, raising questions about the longer-term outlook.
The company ended the month with 4,530 commercial aircraft flying its Ka-band satellite service, up 80 from the prior quarter. Another 2,080 private jets also fly with connectivity from the company. The small growth in installed aircraft numbers, however, was bested by a 10.6% jump in revenue generated for the segment. Aircraft owners are paying more to have their planes online, a trend CFO Gary Chase attributes to the continued transition to “full, fast, free offerings.”
CEO Mark Dankberg projected a continued growth in ARPA for the next several quarters, but also shared expectations that growth for the segment would “moderate” as the industry sees alternative providers (Hi, Starlink 👋) and a shift in service mix take flight.
We recognize the effects of better competition in our legacy commercial services, but are seeing growth in emerging segments of dual-use, multi-orbit, multi-band, driven by underlying new technologies, where we can be among the few leaders, we believe the balance suggests overall good growth opportunities.
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