Thread regarding ViaSat Inc. layoffs

RIP Viasat

Everybody saw this coming for years. This is where inaction and denial get you. Who will be held accountable for losing a marquee customer? Spoiler alert - noone.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/13/24243594/united-airlines-free-starlink-wi-fi-connectivity

Thought I'd share this delicious email from Gooroo exactly one year ago on September 14, 2023 when he thought he was pretty clever.

"Starlink is losing the mobility market: They have built a network that is poorly suited to serve the concentrated nature of demand across mobility markets, and will increasingly have stranded capacity, or capacity over areas with little or no demand, as they scale. Customers seem to understand this; for example, Viasat has won large airline deals over Starlink, and we are expanding this market further. Despite our advantage, we must continue to innovate and differentiate to remain ahead of the competition. "

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| 4751 views | | 55 replies (last October 7, 2024) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1uuj4tpi

55 replies (most recent on top)

Those notes are due in 2029. This company is not likely to exist anymore in 5 years

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Post ID: @owbe+1uuj4tpi

$64M is how many jobs?

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Post ID: @hrlk+1uuj4tpi

Assuming each United aircraft currently connected with Viasat generates $120,000 in revenue every year for the satellite operator, DiPalma said this amounts to around $64 million in annual sales for the company, or roughly 1% of total revenues.

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Post ID: @hkyl+1uuj4tpi

@gjob+1uuj4tpi I can tell you are new to trolling, to be more effective you have to be more credible. It's an art, and you need to work better at it. IFC is about 25% of company revenues as noted in the last quarterly earnings release. See, simple.

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Post ID: @gedf+1uuj4tpi

Government contracts... well guess what, after the election, if he wins guess who is in his back pocket?

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Post ID: @gley+1uuj4tpi

IFC is only 1% of Viasat revenue

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Post ID: @gjob+1uuj4tpi

I guess you missed all these recent govt contracts Viasat won.

https://spacenews.com/viasat-wins-33-million-u-s-air-force-contract-for-satellite-communications-antennas/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/viasat-secures-153m-contract-support-162700256.html

https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2024/06/18/us-space-force-awards-general-atomics-blue-origin-viasat-caci-laser-terminal-prototype-contracts/

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Post ID: @gasm+1uuj4tpi

"IFC means nothing"

You must be new here. I'll help you out. IFC is about $1.5billion in annual revenue which is now reaching a tipping point away from us.

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Post ID: @fxbs+1uuj4tpi
It’s the govt contracts that mean something, and they haven’t been switching to Starlink

After what happened in Ukraine, you think the military wants to trust Viasat?

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/pentagon-buys-starlink-ukraine-statement-2023-06-01

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Post ID: @frog+1uuj4tpi

IFC means nothing. How did Viasat stock do from 2019 to 2023 when they dominated IFC? Not well, which means IFC means nothing. It’s the govt contracts that mean something, and they haven’t been switching to Starlink

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Post ID: @fseo+1uuj4tpi

The tipping point is near. Every incumbent is clueless to them until they look back with 20/20 vision. United then Air France. There will be a next one and the momentum of disruption may be too much to stop. Perhaps the tipping point has already been reached and we're not aware of the decisions being made that aren't yet announced.

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Post ID: @fjxi+1uuj4tpi

What was that someone said about dominos?

https://onemileatatime.com/news/air-france-free-starlink-wi-fi/

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Post ID: @dggt+1uuj4tpi

Well said. It's not 100% MD's fault rather the flock of vultures he's surrounded himself with over the past decade due to his naivety. He's on the verge of retiring now as a multi-millionare so has no motivation to actually put forth the effort and let what's left pick up the scraps. I've been with the company about 9 years now and felt like he's always been a talking head with no actual influence. Glad to see all the new leadership paddling their portfolios over a dying effort rather than it just fizzle out of existence.

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Post ID: @dwlw+1uuj4tpi

Sad to say MD's best leadership days are behind him. He's steered the company into a tight corner. Over played a multitude of risks with VS3 birds. Paid for it with gobs of debt. Stagnated on things customers don't care about, whilst simultaneously not evolving his thinking on things they do care about. To be fair it's not just MD, he's surrounded by a tribe of nodding yes-men who never had the capability or rose to the occasion to guide him better. I've sat through years of all-hands and earnings calls to learn that no change is coming and no new understanding of the problems is coming. It's a sad mess.

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Post ID: @dlpe+1uuj4tpi

Really sad! I remember how I used to see MD around campus. He'd smile and say hello. Sometimes at the gym we would spot each other. Great guy.

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Post ID: @cwuf+1uuj4tpi

We need to get our residential market back, lower price plan, mobile antenna and throw in a ip phone. Maybe even a streaming service bundle.. but do somthing! Anything! lol he-l get some youtubers to wear viasat shirts and give them demo units. I feel like we just sitting in water

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Post ID: @ayzu+1uuj4tpi

“Where are the leadership and executives? Probably chilling in UK on a corporate travel”

Yes Guru and Marky were busy in Europe. Flew on Air Chance and oops oh dear the inflight wifi (from Viasat) was terrible. The kind of terrible that is making United, Hawaiian, others, seek better. Oh but wait a moment cus it was that cr@ppy Inm@rsat wifi to blame. So relax no problem nothing to see here.....

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Post ID: @7icm+1uuj4tpi

@5jjn+1uuj4tpi Viasat as we know it may not be around for the end of their mission durations. The pace of change is faster than Viasat can handle.

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Post ID: @6oex+1uuj4tpi

I wonder if he had to rough it and fly first class instead of private this time.

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Post ID: @5vyf+1uuj4tpi

“Where are the leadership and executives? Probably chilling in UK on a corporate travel”

The Lesser Spotted Guru was indeed in the UK earlier today. Spotted in the restaurant at 50FS.

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Post ID: @5rha+1uuj4tpi

3 & 5 starlink V2 minis have more throughput than Viasat 1 & 2 respectively

Viasat 1 => 140 Gbp/s
Viasat 2 => 260 Gbp/s
Starlink V2 mini => 60 Gbp/s

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Post ID: @5mmx+1uuj4tpi

Viasat 1 Mission duration 15 years (planned)
12 years, 10 months, 15 days (elapsed)


Viasat 2 Mission duration 15 years (planned)
7 years, 3 months, 11 days (elapsed)

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Post ID: @5jjn+1uuj4tpi

There yall go with the negativity again :-p

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Post ID: @5uev+1uuj4tpi

@5iah+1uuj4tpi

so it’s the end because they will not develop new products and they will continue to do things the old way

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Post ID: @5esd+1uuj4tpi

All the SDA launches aren't going to be good for Viasats SATCOM defense niche.

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Post ID: @5hze+1uuj4tpi

I read that and the first interpretation I got was something akin to 'as long as there's someone worse than us we'll still be around'. I fear that may not be a sufficient reason for the market to continue anointing Viasat with a right-to-play. Agreed companies don't just die and disappear, but Viasat in the long run will be a diminished version of itself retreated from market leadership positions it once achieved.

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Post ID: @5lty+1uuj4tpi

Idk as long as other providers like hughesnet are around, I feel like Viasat will be here. I dont think its the end, it's a wake up call to create new products and to stop doing things the old way.

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Post ID: @5iah+1uuj4tpi

Well, if they travel on United I hear they're gonna have great internet soon

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Post ID: @3ppp+1uuj4tpi

Hawaii. Palm Springs. Yea, maybe Europe.

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Post ID: @3tqp+1uuj4tpi

Where are the leadership and executives? Probably chilling in UK on a corporate travel

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Post ID: @3ufx+1uuj4tpi

Easy come, easy go.

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Post ID: @3jot+1uuj4tpi

So Rick fancies he can catch a falling kn--e? This will be interesting to watch.

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Post ID: @3erb+1uuj4tpi

A lot of people have lost a lot of money on Viasat. Rick is making a hero move to help hold the floor in the stock, but that won't save us any customers nor save us any jobs. The market forces are clear, spin and deny if you must.

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Post ID: @3zqb+1uuj4tpi

Rick Baldridge purchased $825k worth of stock last week. It was a direct purchase of 55,000 shares between $14.75 and $15 and not free shares. He clearly sees some upside. Verizon is now launching direct to device with Skylo and Viasat. Should be a positive. I don't think Ricky would throw away $825k if he didn't see some upside. he just wouldn't buy anymore.

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Post ID: @3vqm+1uuj4tpi

As of June 30, 2024, Viasat provides in-flight connectivity (IFC) services to approx. 3750 active commercial aircraft, with 1,460 aircraft in its backlog. A majority of the company's IFC contracts are for a period of five to 10 years, with varying levels of penalties associated with a termination for convenience.

...

The i(Inmarsat) ntegration remains on track and realization of synergies is expected to be ahead of plan as the company announced labor actions in 3Q24 resulting in approximately $100 million of expected savings beginning FY 2025.

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Post ID: @3ved+1uuj4tpi

@3rnf+1uuj4tpi

So another voluntary RIF coming up? Or just straight to involuntary RIF?

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Post ID: @3ees+1uuj4tpi

Only if Starlink starts stealing Viasat's government contracts will it mean something.

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Post ID: @3mkn+1uuj4tpi

This really is inconsequential. One percent means nothing.

Assuming each United aircraft currently connected with Viasat generates $120,000 in revenue every year for the satellite operator, DiPalma said this amounts to around $64 million in annual sales for the company, or roughly 1% of total revenues.

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Post ID: @3azd+1uuj4tpi

How is it that on Sept 9, Viasat releases a press release about issuing $1.25 billion in senior notes then two days later, they announce it has been up sized to 1.975 billion? My guess is United informed them about their StarLink decision and Viasat crunched numbers and realized they are even more in the hole than before.

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Post ID: @3rnf+1uuj4tpi

Yawn. It's easy to find the Guru fluffers (@1dok+1uuj4tpi) because if they have to resort to talking about there's room for competition after losing a top account then you know they're full of it.

  • United is in the top three in airline revenue size
  • United is in the top three of passengers carried
  • And United is second in fleet size behind American

Breaking into the top tier of airlines is a complete win for StarLink at the thorough expense of Viasat. There is now a top tier proof point, wait for the next shoe to drop with others who don't want to be left behind. United didn't just dip their toe into StarLink such that Viasat could continue defending our share there, they sent every GEO operator packing for all of their planes. I too was surprised the deal was for the entire fleet, but the message is clear. Yet given our denial over several years, I'm also not surprised. We'll hear lots of spin, but that won't wipe the ugly off the future this episode bodes.

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Post ID: @2bxe+1uuj4tpi

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