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Orbcomm reports fourth-quarter loss of $14.8M

Earnings per share and revenue beat Wall Street expectations

Revenue during the fourth-quarter was impacted by business disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Orbcomm. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves

Orbcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: ORBC) on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $14.8 million, with a per-share loss of 19 cents.

The 19 cents per-share loss for the fourth quarter was largely the result of a $11.7 million loss on debt extinguishment, Orbcomm said. Adjusted to extinguish debt, the loss was 4 cents per share. 

“While the pandemic caused significant disruption, we showed our resilience,” Marc Eisenberg, president and chief executive officer of Orbcomm, said during the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. “We made major strides in the integration of our 12 acquisitions by moving to a single platform, going live on our two customer-facing web platforms and rationalizing our product portfolio.”

The Rochelle Park, New Jersey-based company posted revenue of $63.8 million during the fourth quarter, an 8% decline from the same period last year.


The earnings per share and revenue results beat Wall Street expectations, which estimated losses of 7 cents per share during the fourth quarter on revenue of $61.9 million.

For the full year 2020, revenue was $248.5 million, compared to $272 million in 2019. Revenue was impacted by business disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Orbcomm. 

The company also reported that its net loss was $33.9 million, or 43 cents per share for the full year in 2020. 

Orbcomm operates in transportation and distribution, heavy equipment, industrial fixed assets, oil and gas, maritime, mining and government. The company also owns telecommunications infrastructure, including low-Earth-orbit satellites and accompanying ground infrastructure.


Eisenberg said Orbcomm closed a number of business transactions with carriers and shippers during the fourth quarter, including Booth Transport, McColl’s Transport, Grassmid Transport, ConAgra Brands, Dollar General, Convenience Transportation, Rambler Trucking, XTL Transport, EG Gray Transportation and Ontime Transport. 

“The transportation market continues to improve and new builds and freight volumes rise,” Eisenberg said. “Original equipment manufacturer builds are down year-over-year but signs we monitor point to recovery in 2021. In Q4, we shipped over 76,000 devices to customers across vertical markets, including 30,000 in transportation, nearly an additional 30,000 in our satellite business, and 15,000 refrigerated container customers.”

Eisenberg said the container market also continues to perform well, with shipping line companies “benefiting as a result of increased intermodal cargo demands and heavy equipment.”

Orbcomm said it will not provide a full-year outlook.

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Noi Mahoney

Noi Mahoney is a Texas-based journalist who covers cross-border trade, logistics and supply chains for FreightWaves. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English in 1998. Mahoney has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working for newspapers in Maryland and Texas. Contact [email protected]