LEO Revenue Jumps 65%, But Eutelsat Shares Tumble 18% — The Disconnect Explained

Eutelsat’s low-earth orbit satellite business is racing ahead at full throttle, with quarterly revenues surging 65% on a comparable basis. Yet investors have responded by hammering the stock down 18% in just five trading sessions — a violent correction that highlights the tension between operational momentum and market sentiment. The shares had nearly doubled since the start of the year, closing at 4.47 euros on May 28 to touch a 52-week high, before the selling began in earnest.

The sell-off accelerated on Tuesday, with the stock dropping 8.28% to close at 3.52 euros in Paris, after finishing the previous session at 3.84 euros. That left the weekly loss at 17.97%. The move stood in stark contrast to the broader market: both the SBF 120 and the CAC 40 finished higher, while fellow satellite operator SES also lost ground, falling 4.66%. Active selling was evident, with around 5 million shares changing hands on Tuesday alone.

Technically, the damage has been swift. The relative strength index now sits at 23.9 — deep in oversold territory. From the 52-week peak just above 4.47 euros, the current price is 21.27% lower. The annualised 30-day volatility has jumped to 100.48%, explaining the unusually wide swings. On the downside, technical analysts point to support at 2.57 euros, with the 3.02 euro area serving as a key reference level after the break higher in May. Resistance stands at 4.51 euros on any attempted recovery.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Eutelsat?

The disconnect between the price action and the underlying business is stark. In the third quarter of its financial year, Eutelsat reported revenue of 293.0 million euros, a comparable increase of 3.1% despite a nominal decline of 2.3%. The growth was driven entirely by connectivity and LEO services. Connectivity generated 155.7 million euros, up 15.3% on a like-for-like basis, while LEO-specific revenues hit 62.2 million euros, a comparable jump of 65.0%. The video segment, however, continued to shrink: revenues fell 13.3% to 128.0 million euros, dragged down by sanctions on Russian broadcasters, the termination of capacity contracts on the Express AT1 and AT2 satellites, and the structural decline of traditional satellite television.

Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, total revenue reached 884.7 million euros, up 1.1% on a currency-adjusted basis. A negative foreign-exchange effect of 42 million euros weighed on the headline figure. LEO revenue for the period came in at 172.7 million euros, a comparable increase of 61.6%, while connectivity rose 13.0% comparably. The rotation within the portfolio is unmistakable: connectivity now accounts for 55% of operating vertical revenue, versus video’s 45%.

Behind the scenes, Eutelsat has strengthened its financial position to support the LEO transition. In March, the company completed a comprehensive refinancing package, including a 1.5 billion euro senior notes issuance, bringing the total equity and debt package to around 5 billion euros. Roughly 1 billion euros of that comes from export credit financing tied to the purchase of 440 LEO satellites from Airbus Defence and Space, intended to gradually refresh the OneWeb constellation. The order book stood at 3.4 billion euros as of March 31, equivalent to 2.8 times projected annual revenue, with 58% attributable to the connectivity segment.

With no fresh corporate update expected until August 2026, the stock is likely to remain sensitive to profit-taking. The recent rally — still showing a year-to-date gain of 96.82% — had priced in a successful pivot from legacy video to next-generation connectivity. The current sell-off reflects the harsh arithmetic of that transition: even as LEO grows at breakneck speed, the video business continues to bleed at a rate that leaves the overall group barely growing. Until the LEO engine can fully offset the video drag, the market is likely to demand proof — and patience from shareholders is running thin.

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