On Tuesday, shares of Intuitive Machines Inc. kept going up because the company plans to send its second historic journey to the moon’s surface early next year.
The stock of Intuitive Machines (LUNR +7.42%) finished the day up 10.7%, its biggest daily gain since November 29th, when it rose 13.2%. Intuitive Machines stock is up 2.3% on Tuesday, putting the company on track for its longest winning streak since November 11, 2024, a five-day run that finished on that date. In 2024, the stock is up 419.4%.
The latest exchange data shows that 20.5% of Intuitive Machines’ public float of shares are being sold short.
Monday, Nokia Corp. NOK +0.22%, a big name in telecommunications, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that it will set up the first cell phone network on the moon next year during Intuitive Machines’ unmanned IM-2 journey. Nokia Bell Labs said earlier this year that it would set up a “network in a box” with a single Nokia base station that would join with Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lunar lander and two vehicles, the MAPP Rover from Lunar Outpost and the Micro-Nova hopper from Intuitive Machines. “The successful testing of this small network will pave the way for future missions to the Moon and eventually Mars to use networks that are much smarter and bigger,” Nokia said in a statement.
Axiom Space, a business that works on space travel and infrastructure, said in an August statement that it is also working with Nokia to make lunar spacesuits that can connect to high-speed cell networks.
A lot of people are interested in intuitive machines in 2024. The Odysseus lander from the Houston-based company was the first private lander to land on the moon’s surface earlier this year. CEO Steve Altemus said last month that the company’s IM-2 mission is on track to fly in the first quarter of 2025, with a launch window in February, during a conference call to talk about the company’s third-quarter results. The CEO said that IM-2 is a “very complicated” journey to look for minerals on the moon. A drill, hopper, and rover will be sent there.
Shares of Intuitive Machines went through the roof in September when the company announced that NASA had given it the Near Space Network contract. This network will provide communication and navigation services for missions in the near-space area, which is from Earth’s surface to beyond the Moon. It’s possible that the deal is worth $4.82 billion.
Late in August, NASA gave Intuitive Machines a $116.9 million deal to send six science and technology packages to the south pole of the moon. The company said in a statement that one of the packages is a drill suite being led by the European Space Agency.
As of last month, Benchmark raised its price goal for Intuitive Machines from $10 to $16. Benchmark analyst Josh Sullivan wrote in a note that the company’s successful use of the business model to build space infrastructure “becomes even more of an asset under the new Administration.”
Cannon raised its price target for Intuitive Machines from $10 to $15 last month, noting the company’s higher peer multiples, higher revenues, and more contracted awards.
Six experts were asked by FactSet to rate Intuitive Machines. One gave the company an overweight rating, while the other five gave it a buy rating.
