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有“地球之眼”之称的GeoEye-1的发射成功对于制造商来说意义重大，GeoEye(代號:GEOY) 作为世界最大规模的商业卫星遥感公司，已经拥有两颗类似卫星制造的经历了，这就意味着在行业竞争对手Digital Globe面前，GeoEye显得底气十足。这两家公司是卫星测绘地球市场中的霸主，BCC Research预期早2012年，市场的市值将达到32亿美元，去年为19亿美元。Morningstar分析师Michael Hodel表示，来自传统军事测绘项目，以及GPS设备两项业务的市场需求正在不断上升，为GeoEye带来了巨大的市场空间。
“对于两家行业霸主来说，这个市场足够大了，只要两家公司不进行价格战，他们几乎可以相安无事。”分析师表示。GeoEye是在1992年由Walter Scott一手建立的，他目前仍然是公司的首席技术官。第二年公司成为获得卫星图像认证的第一大私人公司，并于1997年进行了第一次卫星发射，失败后又于2000年进行了第二次发射，最终于2001年迎来了QuickBird-2卫星发射的成功。2007年又进行了第二次成功的WorldView-1卫星发射，同年公司还收购了GlobeXplorer，巩固了公司的软件终端。WorldView-2卫星目前尚处于开发阶段，将于明年三季度发射。
今年9月1日，Google(代號:GOOG) 与GeoEye签署协议，GeoEye将为Google提供卫星图片，Google将是GeoEye卫星图片独家使用网站。同时，6天后，GeoEye将在加州范登堡空军基地发射将应用于Google服务的卫星，火箭外壳将出现Google标识。Google女发言人Kate Hurowitz表示：“GeoEye-1将提供市面上最高地面清晰度的彩色图片，它将提供非常精确的地理定位。一般商用卫星的分辨率为60厘米，GeoEye-1将帮助我们实现为世界尽可能提供高清晰度图片的目标。”
前两次卫星发射的失败成为公司最大的业务风险，尽管目前已经拥有三颗成功发射的卫星，一旦有一次失败都将对公司造成毁灭性打击。卫星的建造还要求大量的资金和技术，这使得公司背负了2.7亿美元的债务，远远高于公司的年营收。同时，公司的业务在很大程度上依赖于一个大客户：美国政府。美联储拥有随时终止合同的特权。同时，GeoEye是Digital-Globe唯一的竞争对手，但是市场将充斥更多的小型竞争者。美国和印度政府已经宣布将建立自己的卫星发射平台。这些都将成为公司未来潜在的业务风险。
今年一季度营收同比大涨180%至6880万美元，每股收益达到0.06美元。竞争对手DigitalGlobe虽然尚无股票发行，但是宣布将偿还4000万美元的债务。
Investor's Business Daily
Satellite Company Aims To Touch Down On Wall Street
Monday September 8, 5:40 pm ET
Amy Reeves DigitalGlobe Inc.
Longmont, Colo.
(303) 684-4000
digitalglobe.com
Lead underwriters:
Morgan Stanley and Lehman Bros.
Offering price: TBA
Expected date: TBA
Ticker: DGI
THE BUZZ
The launch of the GeoEye-1 satellite on Saturday meant that its maker, GeoEye (NasdaqGM:GEOY - News), now had two satellites making the sort of aerial photos that can show your swimming pool from 400 miles up.
That meant it had caught up with its main rival, DigitalGlobe.
GeoEye and DigitalGlobe essentially form a duopoly in taking satellite mapping pictures of Earth at a resolution of three meters or less. BCC Research estimates that this market will total $3.2 billion in 2012, up from $1.9 billion last year.
Morningstar analyst Michael Hodel says this growth will come both from traditional military and mapping projects and from the growth of GPS devices embedded in new gadgets. In a research note on May 21, a month after DigitalGlobe filed to go public, he wrote that the two firms' market "is big enough for both rivals to coexist profitably, if they don't engage in self-destructive price wars."
Hodel also wrote that DigitalGlobe's 15 years of experience gives it an edge over any new entrants into the market.
THE COMPANY
WorldView Imaging was founded in 1992 by Walter Scott, who remains chief technology officer. The next year it was the first private company to receive a license to gather satellite imagery for sale. In 1994 it was renamed EarthWatch, and the following year absorbed part of Ball Aerospace (NYSE:BLL - News).
The first attempt at a satellite launch, in 1997, ended in failure, as did a second attempt in 2000. The firm finally succeeded in 2001 with the QuickBird-2 satellite, after which it renamed itself DigitalGlobe and started acquiring business partners.
It pulled off a second successful launch with WorldView-1 in 2007. That year it also bought GlobeXplorer, which beefed up the company's software end. The WorldView-2 satellite is under development and is set to launch in the third quarter of next year.
DigitalGlobe's library of images -- called, logically enough, ImageLibrary -- now contains about 400 million square kilometers of photos, or about twice the surface area of the earth. With the third satellite launch, it hopes to add on a million square kilometers per day.
Historically, government, military and intelligence provided around two-thirds of revenue. This year, that figure jumped to more than 80%, thanks to the NextView program that went into effect in January. Some of this business comes directly from the government, while the rest comes from contractors such as Harris (NYSE:HRS - News) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT - News).
RISKS/CHALLENGES
As the two failed satellites show, this company is in a risky business. Even with three satellites in the air, the loss of one could be catastrophic.
The building of satellites also requires a great deal of capital. This has helped DigitalGlobe pile up $270 million in debt -- more than its annual revenue.
The company depends heavily on one customer: the U.S. government. The feds are entitled to end their contracts at any time.
Currently, GeoEye is DigitalGlobe's only real competitor, but the field will likely become more crowded. SPOT Image has announced plans to launch two satellites, and the governments of both the U.S. and India are thinking about building their own satellites.
The firm is growing rapidly but is fairly new to profit, going into the black in 2006.
THE RESULTS
Revenue in the first quarter jumped 180% over the prior year to $68.8 million. Net income tripled to 6 cents a share.
USE OF PROCEEDS
DigitalGlobe has not yet set terms for its offering, but says it plans to repay $40 million in debt from the proceeds.
The rest it will use to build its WorldView-2 satellite and for general corporate purposes.
THE MANAGEMENT
Jill Smith
Chief executive and director
Joined in 2005 after briefly heading enterprise software firm Gomez, and spending four years at the helm of eDial.
She has also held executive positions at Micron Electronics, Treacy & Co., SRDS, Sara Lee (NYSE:SLE - News) and Bain & Co.
She holds an MBA from MIT.
Yancey Spruill
Executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer
Joined in 2004 after four years at Thomas Weisel Partners (NasdaqGM:TWPG - News). Previously he has worked at other investment banks and also as an engineer at Corning (NYSE:GLW - News) and Clorox (NYSE:CLX - News).
He holds an MBA from Dartmouth College.
Walter Scott
Executive vice president and chief technical officer
Founded DigitalGlobe's predecessor after working at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.
He holds a doctorate in computer science from the University of California-Berkeley.
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