Iridium Communications (Nasdaq: IRDM) has reported third quarter earnings of 24 cents per share to exceed Wall Street analyst forecasts by 5 cents and the prior year figure by 7 cents.Profit at the McLean, Va.-based satellite communications provider climbed 44.92 percent year-over-year to $29.54 million and revenue declined 1.4 percent from the prior year period to $106.03 million.
Second quarter revenue beat the consensus Wall Street forecast by $1.4 million.
Sales in the company’s government segment rose 12.5 percent year-over-year to $18 million on continued activity through its contract to provide airtime services to the Defense Department and a 21.05 percent increase in subscribers from the same quarter last year.
CEO Matt Desch told investors in a subsequent call the company also foresees potential opportunities in the tactical radio arena for U.S. government agencies.
Commercial service revenue declined 3.65 percent year-over-year to $63.2 million, which Desch attributed to impact from a strong U.S. dollar that continued from the second quarter.
As of Thursday’s close, Iridium’s stock is down 18.46 percent from the year’s start and has declined 12.44 percent over 12 months.
