TLDR
- Iridium Communications (IRDM) rose as much as 12.5% Thursday, building on a 64% gain over the past three months.
- SpaceX filed confidential IPO documents with the SEC, reigniting investor interest in satellite stocks.
- Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire Globalstar, which already has a satellite deal with Apple.
- Raymond James analysts flagged Iridium’s scarce L-Band and S-Band spectrum as attractive to players investing in direct-to-device services.
- IRDM broke above its 200-day moving average, triggering momentum-driven buying and a technical “Buy” signal.
Iridium Communications (IRDM) was trading up around 12.5% Thursday morning, with a current market cap of approximately $2.91 billion.
Iridium Communications Inc., IRDM
The stock has gained roughly 64% over the past three months, and year-to-date performance stands at over 60%.
A wave of satellite-sector news hit markets Thursday morning, and Iridium was one of the main beneficiaries.
SpaceX filed confidential IPO documents with the SEC on Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. The filing didn’t come with a timeline, but it put the entire satellite sector back in focus overnight.
At the same time, Amazon is reportedly in talks to acquire satellite company Globalstar. That deal, if it closes, would give Amazon a ready-made satellite-to-cell network — Globalstar already has an existing deal with Apple for its iPhone emergency SOS feature.
Why Iridium Is Moving
Iridium’s rally isn’t just about momentum. Analysts are pointing to the company’s spectrum holdings as a real asset in a crowded satellite market.
Raymond James analyst Brent Penter noted that while Iridium’s spectrum position is smaller than some rivals, L-Band and S-Band spectrum remains scarce. He said there would likely be interest from larger players investing in direct-to-device services.
The stock also broke above its 200-day moving average this week, which triggered technical buying. Institutional interest has picked up, with IRDM named as a top pick heading into April.
Confidence has also been building around the company’s 2026 growth plan in satellite-to-cell and IoT services. Iridium presented technology updates at the recent SATELLITE 2026 conference that analysts said supported a more optimistic long-term view on free cash flow.
Other Satellite Stocks on the Move
Iridium wasn’t the only name benefiting. Viasat (VSAT) rose as much as 17% in early trading, while EchoStar (SATS) gained around 4%.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) moved the other way, falling roughly 2%. The company is racing to build out its satellite-to-cell 5G network, but faces growing pressure from both SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile and Amazon’s Project Leo.
If Amazon does acquire Globalstar, it would have an immediate foothold in the satellite-to-cell market — putting more pressure on AST SpaceMobile, which is still building its constellation.
NASA’s Artemis II mission, which launched Wednesday and sent four astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon, added to the space-sector momentum. The mission also involves deploying four small research satellites.
As of early Thursday, IRDM’s average daily trading volume sits at around 2.2 million, with technical sentiment signals pointing to buy.
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