Iridium Communications Inc IRDM

Competitive advantage analysis · communication-services

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
76/100
Strong

About Iridium Communications Inc

Iridium Communications Inc. provides mobile voice and data communications services and products to businesses, the United States and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations, and consumers in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers mobile satellite communications services for land mobile end users and aviation sectors; broadband terminals, embedded devices, and handsets for merchant shipping, fishing, leisure and research vessels, … Full IRDM analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Consistently Above Peers Gross margin at 71.6% (top 21%) and operating margin at 27.1% (top 7%) indicate strong pricing power.
  • Cost Leadership Position Operating margin at 93.0th percentile with strong OpEx control demonstrates cost leadership.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
71

Where IRDM ranks in Telecom Services

Iridium Communications Inc ranks #1 of 56 scored companies in Telecom Services by moat score — the top 2%. That makes it the widest moat in the group.

Moat scores for companies ranked near IRDM in Telecom Services
# Company Moat score Rating
1 Iridium Communications Inc IRDM 76/100 Strong
2 PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tb TLK 76/100 Strong
3 PLDT Inc. Sponsored PHI 75/100 Moderate
4 Millicom International Cellular TIGO 75/100 Moderate
5 Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. CHT 74/100 Moderate
6 TIM S.A. TIMB 73/100 Moderate
7 IHS Holding Limited IHS 71/100 Moderate
8 BCE, Inc. BCE 71/100 Moderate
9 Comcast Corporation CMCSA 71/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How IRDM scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 71 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 86 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 82 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 69 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 69 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 84 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding IRDM's moat

What is Iridium Communications Inc's moat score?

Iridium Communications Inc (IRDM) scores 76 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #1 of 56 scored companies in Telecom Services, the top 2%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 59 companies in Telecom Services. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (86/100) and its weakest is Resilience (69/100).

How does Iridium Communications Inc compare with other Telecom Services companies?

Iridium Communications Inc ranks #1 of 56 scored companies in Telecom Services by moat score. That is the widest moat in Telecom Services. The companies ranked closest are PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Tb (TLK) at 76 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 59 companies in Telecom Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Iridium Communications Inc scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Iridium Communications Inc?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and IRDM scores: Pricing Power (71), Cost Advantage (86), Customer Stickiness (82), Capital Efficiency (69), Resilience (69), Scale & Market Position (84). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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