SpaceX IPO Halo Lifts Eutelsat as LEO Revenue Surges 70.7%

Eutelsat shares surge 31% in a week as SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO filing lifts satellite sector; connectivity revenue jumps 8.6%, LEO services up 50%.

The prospect of a blockbuster SpaceX listing is rippling through the satellite sector, and few European names are catching the updraft as forcefully as Eutelsat. Investors have piled into the stock this week, sending it 31.3% higher over seven sessions to close at €3.74 on Friday, despite a mild 0.98% pullback to end the week. The year-to-date tally now stands at a blistering 108.9%, bringing the 12-month gain to 14% and placing the stock within striking distance of its €4.03 high.

SpaceX has filed registration documents for an initial public offering, targeting a valuation between $1.75 trillion and $2.0 trillion. That has forced a market-wide reassessment of satellite operators with low-earth-orbit exposure, and Eutelsat — one of the few liquid European proxies for the LEO theme — is reaping the benefit. The company's hybrid model, combining legacy geostationary satellites with the OneWeb constellation in low orbit, positions it as a direct beneficiary of the capital and attention now flowing into the sector.

The operational numbers back up the narrative. In the latest quarter, Eutelsat reported revenue of €293 million, with like-for-like sales falling just 0.3% (reported decline 2.2%). Connectivity — now 53% of group revenue — rose 8.6% to €149 million, driven by a 70.7% explosion in LEO services. Over the first nine months of the financial year, LEO revenue is up 50%, showing that the quarterly acceleration is gaining pace. The legacy video business continues to contract, dropping 10.5% to €134 million and representing 47% of sales, but the mix shift is unmistakable: data-driven connectivity is steadily replacing the satellite TV model.

Eutelsat's in-flight connectivity business is a particular bright spot. Over 600 aircraft now use the OneWeb network, with more than 15 airlines signed up, including a major agreement with Japan Airlines. The order backlog stands at €3.5 billion, equivalent to roughly 2.8 times annual revenue, providing long-term visibility even as the transition consumes capital.

Financially, the company has secured its footing. A €1.5 billion bond issue was successfully placed, completing a comprehensive refinancing that has stabilised the balance sheet. That followed a €1.5 billion capital increase approved in September 2025, which gave Eutelsat additional firepower for LEO expansion. Net debt sits at around 2.5 times EBITDA, and capital expenditure for the year is guided at €1.0–1.1 billion. Management has reaffirmed its full-year outlook: underlying revenue roughly flat year-on-year, with a slightly lower EBITDA margin as the higher-growth, lower-margin connectivity business takes a larger share and start-up costs weigh.

Full-year results are due in August 2026, when the market will judge whether the LEO ramp can durably offset the erosion in video. For now, the stock's technical picture remains fluid. The short-term relative strength index sits at 38, hardly overbought, but the annualised volatility is a punchy 87.9%. The €3.77 level acts as near-term resistance; a clean break above it would reinforce the re-rating story, while a rejection would refocus attention on margins, investment intensity and the pace of OneWeb's commercial scaling.