Iridium Communications Inc (IRDM · NASDAQ)

Iridium shareholders approved Rocket Lab's roughly $8 billion acquisition on September 25, with 99.6% of votes cast in favor; holders will receive $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab shares per share, with closing targeted for mid-2027. The stock closed at $48.75, up 4.2% over five days but down 12.2% from its 52-week high and 12.2% over three months, trading 35.3% above its 200-day average. Fundamentals softened ahead of the vote: Q2 revenue of $225.2M rose modestly, but operating income fell to $34.0M from $50.7M a quarter earlier, net income dropped to $9.7M, and the company missed estimates in each of the last two quarters ($0.19 vs. $0.26 and $0.20 vs. $0.28). Leverage stands at 4.2x debt/EBITDA on $1.76B of total debt, against $184.2M in cash and $92.3M in quarterly free cash flow.