EchoStar vs Iridium Communications
ECHO and IRDM side by side, both in communications. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How ECHO and IRDM compare
EchoStar is the larger company, worth 5.9 times as much as Iridium Communications ($28.2B against $4.8B).
Iridium Communications grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (3.1% versus −5.2% for EchoStar).
Iridium Communications keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 10.5% compared with −38.7% at EchoStar.
Iridium Communications pays a dividend yielding 1.3%; EchoStar does not pay one.
Iridium Communications scores higher on the StockData Score (13 against 4 for EchoStar), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | ECHO | IRDM |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $28.2B | $4.8B |
| Share price | $96.94 | $44.91 |
| Change, 1 year | 31.7% | 165% |
| Change, 5 years | 271% | 4.9% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.94 | 0.68 |
| Employees | 12K | 975 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 4 | 13 (better) |
| Valuation score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Growth score | 1 | 1 |
| Performance score | 0 | 4 (better) |
| Health score | 1 | 5 (better) |
| Dividend score | 0 | 2 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | – | 51.0× |
| P/S | 1.9× (better) | 5.4× |
| P/B | 2.0× (better) | 10.1× |
| EV/EBITDA | – | 10.8× |
| P/FCF | – | 16.5× |
| PEG | – | 0.35 |
| FCF yield | −2.6% | 6.1% (better) |
| Fair value | $108.83 | $31.24 |
| Margin of safety | 10.9% (better) | −43.8% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | −5.2% | 3.1% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 51.4% (better) | 8.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | – | −17.6% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | – | −11.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 42.1% | – |
| Operating margin | −113% | 23.8% (better) |
| Net margin | −38.7% | 10.5% (better) |
| FCF margin | −4.9% | 32.6% (better) |
| Return on equity | −33.5% | 19.7% (better) |
| Return on invested capital | −35.9% | 47.0% (better) |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.23 (better) | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 5.20 (better) | 2.78 |
| Altman Z-score | 0.34 | 1.88 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 2 | 8 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | – | 1.3% |
| Payout ratio | – | 103% |
| Buyback yield | – | 1.1% |
| Shareholder yield | 0.00% | 2.4% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 59.3% | 86.1% |
| Held by insiders | 58.1% | 22.9% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$57.3M | −$19.8M (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 21.0% | 4.1% |
Go deeper
- ECHO stock overview
- ECHO income statement
- ECHO valuation and score
- IRDM stock overview
- IRDM income statement
- IRDM valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.