Margin Headwinds Offset Record Vessel Growth; Reset Targeted in 2026
Mixed Q3 results. Vessel net additions and service growth beat our forecast, but KVH missed our EBITDA estimate by ~50% due to weak product and service margins. KVH wrote down $5.5M of GEO hardware and is negotiating a bulk airtime purchase to boost Starlink service margins.
Record vessel growth. KVH shipped a record 1,600 terminals in the quarter, up from 1,000 in 4Q24 and added over 900 vessels in Q3 as compared to <400 in all of 2024. KVH’s subscribing vessel count increased by 11% sequentially and 32% y/y to ~9,000.
Airtime revenue up 3%. Airtime turned positive for the first time in seven quarters, and grew 15% y/y, excluding the U.S. Coast Guard, driven by a one-third increase in the vessel count partially offset by an estimated 20% ARPU decline.
