Planet Labs Stock Surges: A Gamble from the Moon

Ryan Koontz of Needham, that scribe of Wall Street parables, etched his verdict in ink: $16 per share, a figure plucked from the ether but clung to with the tenacity of a drowning man. His “buy” recommendation, a lifeline thrown to investors, was less a forecast than a prayer. The analyst’s faith, he confessed, was built on presentations from Planet Labs’ investor day-a spectacle where management spoke of satellite contracts and swelling defense budgets, their words polished as a sailor’s brass buttons.








