Intuitive Machines reported record third-quarter operating cash flow of $66.2 million on 12 November. Its results release, filed with the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K, shows that contract liabilities rose $74.1 million and other liabilities rose $98.7 million in the quarter. Together that is $172.7 million, more than the operating inflow, by our arithmetic.
Revenue was $269.3 million, up from $52.4 million a year earlier, about 5.1 times, by our arithmetic. Product revenue, a line the company did not report in the third quarter of 2025, was $215.1 million, about 80% of the total. Wall St Engine’s results card on X put the revenue estimate at $246 million.
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The key insight: As we read the cash flow statement, Intuitive Machines’ record $66.2 million operating inflow came in a quarter when contract and other liabilities rose $172.7 million, by our arithmetic, while nine-month free cash flow stayed negative $112.3 million.
The cash flow statement shows net cash provided by operating activities of $66.2 million in the three months to 30 September, against an outflow of $7.2 million a year earlier. Purchases of property and equipment were $32.7 million, which the company says left free cash flow of $33 million.
Excluding the $172.7 million rise in contract and other liabilities, the remaining operating items summed to an outflow of about $106.6 million, by our arithmetic. Contract assets rose $69.0 million and other assets $72.9 million in the same quarter, and the company recorded a $9.5 million provision for credit losses.
Over nine months, operating cash flow was an outflow of $45.7 million and free cash flow was negative $112.3 million, according to the release’s reconciliation table. Cash and cash equivalents were $463.8 million at 30 September, down $118.8 million from $582.6 million at the end of 2025, by our arithmetic. Long-term debt was $336.9 million.
The quarter also included $98.1 million of proceeds from the issuance of securities. Weighted average shares outstanding were 173.4 million, up about 47% from 117.8 million a year earlier, by our arithmetic.
Intuitive Machines’ third-quarter 2026 cash flow statement: net cash from operations of $66.2 million against a $74.1 million rise in contract liabilities and a $98.7 million rise in other liabilities, per its results filed as Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1. The $172.7 million sum is our arithmetic.
Where the Revenue Came From
Service revenue, the line that carried the company a year ago, was $54.1 million, up about 6% from $51.0 million, by our arithmetic. Grant revenue was $0.1 million. The release attributes the quarter to “execution across satellite production, lunar delivery, lunar data services, and ground communication networks”.
Gross margin was $69 million, or 26%, which the company says was driven by satellite production, higher volume and “net favorable one-time program adjustments”. The release does not quantify those adjustments. General and administrative expense was $82.9 million, about 31% of revenue, by our arithmetic, and the operating loss was $34.2 million.
The net loss narrowed to $3.4 million from $10.0 million. Other income included a $30.0 million gain from the change in fair value of warrant liabilities. Adjusted EBITDA was $8.3 million, against negative $13.2 million a year earlier, after adding back $10.3 million of non-recurring legal expense and $9.6 million of acquisition transaction and integration costs.
Backlog and Guidance
Backlog was $1.87 billion at 30 September, against $213.1 million at the end of 2025. The release says the increase includes $612.8 million of acquired backlog from the January 2026 Lanteris acquisition, $31.7 million from the August Goonhilly acquisition and $1.77 billion of new awards, offset by $662.2 million of recognized revenue and $94.7 million of adjustments, mainly the descoping of the remaining Power Propulsion Element contract.
New awards named in the release include Space Development Agency tracking-layer work, the Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 constellation, NASA JPL’s EAGLE-VSWIR and Hartford, two IM 300 series platforms for a National Security Space application. The company also says it was named a vendor on NASA’s $10 billion CLPS 2 contract in the fourth quarter.
The company guides full-year 2026 revenue of $920 million to $950 million and positive adjusted EBITDA. After $662.2 million in nine months, that implies fourth-quarter revenue of $257.8 million to $287.8 million, about 1% above the third quarter at the midpoint, by our arithmetic. Nine-month adjusted EBITDA was negative $3.0 million.
At the $935 million guidance midpoint, backlog is about 2.0 times 2026 revenue, by our arithmetic. CEO Steve Altemus said IM-3 and the first Altus-1 lunar satellite remain “on track for a planned launch in the March/April timeframe”.
The Structural Read
As we read the revenue lines, the company that reported $51.0 million of service revenue a year ago is now mainly a productbusiness: productrevenue of $215.1 million was about 80% of the quarter, by our arithmetic, while service revenue rose about 6%.
As we read the guide, the $920 million to $950 million range implies a fourth quarter of $257.8 million to $287.8 million, by our arithmetic, roughly level with the third quarter, while backlog of $1.87 billion is about 2.0 times the 2026 midpoint.
Steve Altemus, CEO of Intuitive Machines, third-quarter 2026 results release, 12 November 2026
“In the third quarter, we delivered record financialperformance across the board.”
Three Implications
FOR SHAREHOLDERS Weighted average shares rose about 47% from a year earlier, by our arithmetic, and the quarter included $98.1 million of proceeds from the issuance of securities.
FOR NASA AND DEFENCE CUSTOMERS The release lists missile-defence, Space Development Agency and National Security Space awards alongside NASA JPL work and a vendor slot on the $10 billion CLPS 2 contract.
FOR THE 2027 SCHEDULE The company says IM-3 and the first Altus-1 lunar satellite are planned for launch in the March/April timeframe.
Intuitive Machines’ revenue by line in the third quarters of 2025 and 2026, per its results filed as Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1. Each bar shows that quarter’s mix; the 80% product share is our arithmetic.
What Is Not Established
The release does not break revenue down by customer or by the Lanteris business, quantify the one-time program adjustments, or say what the $98.7 million rise in other liabilities consists of. The Form 10-Q was not on EDGAR when we checked at 13:05 UTC, so the risk factors could not be compared. The earnings call was at 13:30 UTC, after we wrote; we did not contact the company.
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Intuitive Machines reported $66.2 million of third-quarter operating cash flow while contract and other liabilities rose $172.7 million, by our arithmetic, and nine-month free cash flow remained negative $112.3 million. Revenue of $269.3 million was about 80% productrevenue, and the full-year guide implies a fourth quarter of $257.8 million to $287.8 million, by our arithmetic.
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A note on sourcing. All figures come from Intuitive Machines’ third-quarter 2026 results release of 12 November, filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 8-K and read in full including the financial tables. The revenue estimate is from Wall St Engine’s results card on X. The Form 10-Q was not on EDGAR when we wrote. Sums, shares, multiples and the implied fourth-quarter range are our arithmetic. The company was not contacted for this piece.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
