Viasat DAT Backlog Hits Record $1.4 Billion

The Tip Desk · November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue was $1.2 billion, up 3% year over year, as Defense and Advanced Technologies rose 20% and Communication Services fell 3%.

Viasat, Inc. (VSAT), a global satellite communications technology company, reported second-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $1.2 billion, a 3% year-over-year increase, as Defense and Advanced Technologies (DAT) revenue rose 20% and Communication Services revenue fell 3%.

The net loss widened to $129 million from $61 million a year earlier. The company said the decline was primarily related to an increased provision for income taxes, higher research and development expense, and higher stock compensation expense. Adjusted EBITDA was $370 million, down 4% year over year.

DAT was the growth engine. Segment revenue increased 20% to $365 million, with product revenue up 20% and service revenue up 21%. Tactical networking product revenue grew 31% year over year, and information security and cyber defense product revenue grew 27%. Segment Adjusted EBITDA rose 57% to $76 million. DAT backlog reached a record $1.4 billion, up 20% year over year and 3% sequentially, with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2x.

For the full fiscal year, the company expects DAT mid-teens or better revenue growth compared with fiscal 2026 and a sustained multi-year revenue growth outlook. The current fiscal 2027 plan anticipates about $2.0 billion of DAT awards, compared with $1.6 billion last year. DAT earned about $420 million of firm awards in the quarter.

Communication Services revenue was $815 million, down 3% year over year, reflecting a 2% decline in service revenue and a 16% decline in product revenue. Fixed services and other and maritime service revenues fell 23% and 8% year over year, partially offset by aviation and government satcom growth of 8% and 4%. Segment Adjusted EBITDA was $294 million, down 13%. Commercial aviation ended the quarter with about 4,490 active aircraft, up 6% year over year. Business aviation was about 2,080 aircraft. Maritime vessels were about 12,600. U.S. fixed broadband ended with about 100,000 subscribers and $111 average revenue per user.

Both ViaSat-3 Flight 2 and Flight 3 entered service in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, respectively. The company said it is adding bandwidth through the ground network and migrating more user terminals onto those satellites.

Company-wide awards totaled $1.1 billion, down 24% year over year, as the year-ago period included a $234 million Southern Positioning Augmentation Network award. Communication Services awards fell 30% to $717 million. DAT awards declined 10% to $421 million, with space and mission systems awards up 72% year over year. Communication Services total backlog reached $2.7 billion, up 2% year over year.

Free cash flow was $78 million, up 14% year over year. Capital expenditures decreased 3% year over year to $207 million. Net debt declined about $700 million to $4.8 billion, and the net leverage ratio fell 0.3x to 3.2x, which the company attributed primarily to Ligado lump-sum proceeds, the sale of its equity investment in Navarino, and twelve-month free cash flow. Available liquidity was $2.9 billion.

The company continues to expect mid-single-digit year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal 2027 and now anticipates Adjusted EBITDA to be about flat year over year, with stronger growth in the second half supported by backlog, new orders, and pipeline. It now expects Communication Services fiscal 2027 segment revenue to be flattish, driven by aviation services growth offset by a decline in fixed services and other.