Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) used its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call to highlight what management described as a “transformational year,” shaped by the divestiture of its maritime business and an increased focus on space-based intelligence products for defense, civil government, and commercial customers.
Management points to accelerating demand across defense, civil, and commercial markets
CEO Theresa Condor said Spire entered 2026 with momentum, citing 44% year-over-year revenue growth in the fourth quarter excluding the divested maritime business, along with a five-point year-over-year improvement in gross margin. Condor framed the company’s opportunity around three demand drivers: rising defense and intelligence spending on space, a shift by civil agencies toward commercial data procurement, and growing commercial adoption of space-based intelligence tied to AI-driven analytics.
- A fully deployed constellation of about 100 payloads on orbit, delivering frequent revisits and near real-time sensing across aviation, weather, and radio frequency environments.
- More than 12 years of space operations experience, supported by vertical integration from satellite manufacturing to analytics delivery.
- Manufacturing facilities in both the United States and Europe, with stated capacity to produce 300–400 satellites annually.
- Proprietary RF sensing and geolocation capabilities, including radio occultation, GNSS reflectometry, ADS-B aviation tracking, and RF geolocation (RFGL).
RF geolocation and “space reconnaissance” highlighted as a near-term growth engine
Condor placed particular emphasis on defense and space reconnaissance, anchored by RFGL. She said Spire demonstrated single-satellite geolocation in early 2026, including detection of S-band and X-band signals, which she called a meaningful technical milestone. Spire expects RFGL capacity to increase approximately 15x over the next 12 months, which management said would support a shift from pilot programs to “large-scale operational deployments” with government customers.
Condor said Spire secured U.S. agency awards in 2026 for rapid RFGL collections over South America, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific, describing them as “funded operational missions.” She also said the company secured pilot awards with overseas allies in 2025 and 2026 that it expects could expand into larger programs. In addition, Spire expanded its space reconnaissance offerings in 2025 to collect and process publicly broadcast voice transmissions from space, using AI-driven processing to transcribe, translate, and summarize signals in near real time.
To support its defense market push, Condor noted Spire established a board of advisors that includes Admiral Grady and Ed Newberry.
International pipeline focuses on sovereign requirements and multi-year opportunities
Condor said international defense opportunity is where Spire is “most differentiated,” emphasizing sovereign manufacturing and data sovereignty requirements. She said Spire is actively engaged with 17 countries across Europe, the Nordics, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. According to Condor, these opportunities range from partnerships with defense contractors to direct ministry-of-defense engagements, and include RFGL data services, custom satellite missions, and “full sovereign constellation programs” described as ranging from high eight figures to low nine figures.
During the question-and-answer session, Condor said discussions often begin with immediate data delivery from assets already on orbit and can transition into broader subscription programs and, in some cases, sovereign constellations supported by local manufacturing in Germany and the U.K. Asked about the typical duration of potential nine-figure deals, she said they would be multi-year, similar to Spire’s space services contracts.
Condor also pointed to government contract wins and renewals in 2025, including an $11.2 million one-year NOAA contract for radio occultation data, a $2.5 million NOAA contract for ocean winds data, a EUR 3 million renewal from EUMETSAT, and selection for the Missile Defense Agency’s SHIELD IDIQ contract. She added that Myriota expanded its agreement with Spire for 16 additional satellites, and that the company received an award from Deloitte tied to on-orbit cyber and data operations.
NOAA commercial procurement shift and new satellite capabilities
Condor said civil agencies are increasingly turning to commercial data procurement, pointing to NOAA’s comments at the 2026 American Meteorological Society meeting about expanding commercial observations and providing industry more transparency and lead time. She also said NOAA anticipates commercial weather data purchases could reach “billions of dollars” over the next decade. Condor added that NASA is orienting toward additional commercial satellite data procurement and that legislation supporting commercial procurement policies is advancing in Congress.
Spire also discussed new technology additions. Condor said the company launched its first Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder satellite in January 2026 and shared initial data with test customers. She characterized the effort as a first-mover investment designed to anticipate future procurement programs. She also cited additional applications for radio occultation, including characterizing satellite launch activities and supporting hypersonic vehicle tracking.
On the commercial side, Condor said Spire’s AI weather models provide probabilistic forecasts extending to 45 days and that the company is introducing rapid refresh forecasting and responding to customer demand for nowcasting products. She also cited demand for soil moisture intelligence in agriculture, and described examples of customers using Spire data for storm outage prediction, wildfire risk management, and aviation GNSS spoofing/interference detection via ADS-B quality indicators.
Financial results, balance sheet changes, and 2026 guidance
CFO Alison Engel said Spire’s fourth quarter revenue was $15.8 million, while full-year revenue was $71.6 million, with the full-year decline attributed to the maritime divestiture. Excluding maritime, she said fourth quarter revenue grew 44% year-over-year and 36% sequentially, driven by higher radio occultation and ocean winds data sales under NOAA awards and increased space services revenue. Engel said remaining maritime activities are being managed as a run-off business.
Engel reported fourth quarter non-GAAP gross margin of 43%, up five percentage points year-over-year. Full-year gross margin improved four points to 44%. Fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA was -$9.7 million, improving 8% year-over-year and 17% sequentially, while full-year adjusted EBITDA was -$39.7 million. Cash flow used in operations was $4.3 million in the fourth quarter, improving 78% year-over-year and 65% sequentially; Engel said cash usage reflected revenue timing, working capital dynamics related to satellite manufacturing, and elevated legal and professional fees.
Following the maritime sale in April 2025, Engel said Spire retired all outstanding debt and ended 2025 debt-free with $81.8 million in cash and marketable securities as of Dec. 31.
For 2026, Engel guided to first quarter GAAP revenue of $14.5 million to $15.5 million, including approximately $1.7 million of maritime revenue. Excluding maritime, she said the first quarter implies nearly 10% year-over-year growth for the core business. Full-year revenue guidance is $75 million to $85 million, which management said represents over 50% year-over-year growth on an ex-maritime basis.
Engel said 2026 guidance does not include any revenue from the WildFireSat program, noting work is paused while discussions continue with a partner regarding timing and requirements. Management said the revenue outlook “stands entirely on its own” without WildFireSat, while acknowledging it could represent upside if it resumes.
On profitability, Engel said the company is targeting quarterly adjusted EBITDA breakeven in the fourth quarter of 2026 to the first quarter of 2027 timeframe, followed by positive quarterly operating cash flow in 2027. For 2026, Spire guided to first quarter adjusted EBITDA of -$11.5 million to -$11.2 million and full-year adjusted EBITDA of -$26 million to -$20 million. She also provided non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP loss per share guidance for the first quarter and full year.
Engel said Spire expects continued gross margin expansion as higher-margin offerings such as RFGL and AI-driven weather intelligence grow, and outlined a longer-term target of 60% to 70% gross margins over the next three to five years. In Q&A, management said it expects margin growth in 2026, with the larger margin targets supported by continued revenue scaling.
Asked about 2026 revenue phasing, Engel said revenue is expected to ramp through the year, with more growth anticipated in the back half as RFGL moves from pilot programs into larger data deliveries, alongside revenue associated with launches that shifted from the fourth quarter into early first quarter.
Management also said it had “really strong visibility” into revenue, with approximately 75% of guidance covered by contracts already in place. Engel noted first quarter adjusted EBITDA is impacted by a timing issue related to audit fees, with costs that would typically be recognized across a full year instead recognized over a shorter period from November through March, in addition to some legal fees.
About Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR)
Spire Global (NYSE: SPIR) is a space-to-cloud data and analytics company that operates a constellation of low Earth orbit nanosatellites to collect radio occultation, maritime Automatic Identification System (AIS), and aviation tracking data. By leveraging proprietary satellite hardware and ground infrastructure, Spire captures precise, near-real-time observations of Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and surface traffic to power downstream analytics for weather forecasting, fleet optimization, and safety monitoring.
The company’s core offerings include weather and climate intelligence derived from GPS radio occultation, which enhances numerical weather prediction models; maritime domain awareness services that track vessel movements and supply chain dynamics; and aviation analytics that monitor air traffic for efficiency and security applications.
