Why Did Planet Labs Stock Fall

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Planet Labs PBC (PL) stock fell 50.3% between January 23 and October 20, 2026, while the S&P 500 returned 12.5%. The steepest decline occurred on June 5, when the stock dropped 26% in the session following the company's fiscal Q1 2027 report. Sales continued to grow quickly in the quarters Planet reported during those nine months, making the fall harder to interpret. So what has actually changed at Planet Labs over the past year?

Planet Labs Now Has More Shares And More Debt

Planet Labs is funding its growth by selling shares and borrowing money. The company's average diluted share count was 360 million in the quarter to July 31, 2026, compared with 304 million a year earlier. Total debt reached $499 million at the end of July, up from $17.5 million the year before.

Issuing new shares leaves existing stockholders with a smaller slice of the business. Management said Planet raised about $120 million by selling stock in fiscal Q2 2027. A June 8, 2026 piece on Seeking Alpha tied the June decline to guidance that implied slower growth and to a new $1.5 billion equity distribution program.

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How Far Has Planet Labs' Loss Per Share Widened?

Planet's loss per share more than tripled, to $1.10 over the twelve months to July 31, 2026, from $0.30 a year earlier. The net loss grew to $360 million from $90.5 million. That per-share loss adds up four quarters, and each uses that quarter's average share count, which was below 360 million before the July quarter.

Sales grew strongly at the same time. Revenue rose 44.1% over the same twelve months, and management said the handover of Planet's first Pelican for the Swedish Armed Forces helped fiscal Q2 2027. The faster sales did not stop the net loss from widening.

Even after the fall, you pay 12.7 times sales for Planet Labs stock, compared with 3.1 times for the S&P 500. A P/E is not meaningful here because the company lost money.

What Has Not Changed At Planet Labs?

The operating business loses about the same share of each sales dollar as it did a year ago. Planet's operating loss equaled 27.2% of sales over the twelve months to July 31, 2026, compared with 27.4% a year earlier.

Most of the wider net loss therefore came from items outside the operating business. The operating loss stood at $103 million over those twelve months, far smaller than the $360 million net loss.

Planet's operating margin is the number to watch when the company next reports, expected on or around December 8, 2026.

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