LUNR Stock Has Gained Nearly 50% In A Month — A Look At What's Behind The Relentless Investor Optimism

• Intuitive Machines is also responsible for lunar surface mapping through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and expanding ShadowCam's imaging of permanently shadowed lunar regions.
• The company plans to integrate publicly available LROC archive data into its lunar relay satellite network to support navigation services for government and commercial lunar missions.
• Intuitive Machines bagged a $180.4 million contract in March this year from the space agency for the delivery of seven science and technology payloads.

Shares of Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR) are up nearly 50% over the last month, with the stock on track to hit a 52-week high when markets open for regular trading on Tuesday.

Intuitive Machines shares were up more than 10% in Tuesday’s pre-market session after closing 11% higher on Friday. LUNR was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing.

LUNR Bags New NASA Contracts

Intuitive Machines announced last week that it has secured two new NASA contracts worth $15.5 million for LROC and $4.5 million for ShadowCam. The company is also responsible for lunar surface mapping through the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and expanding ShadowCam's imaging of permanently shadowed lunar regions.

Intuitive Machines stated that it plans to incorporate publicly available LROC Planetary Data System archive data into its lunar relay satellite network to support navigation services for both government and commercial lunar exploration.

In March this year, the company bagged a $180.4 million contract from the space agency for the delivery of seven science and technology payloads. This includes a lunar rover from the Australian Space Agency and technologies from Blue Origin’s Honeybee Robotics to the Lunar South Pole Region.

The award gives Intuitive Machines its fifth NASA CLPS task order and its first opportunity to deploy the larger Nova-D lunar lander for autonomous surface operations and payload transport on the Moon.

That same month, the company disclosed that subsidiary Lanteris Space Systems had secured a role with L3Harris Technologies on the Space Development Agency's Tranche 3 Tracking Layer program. The contract calls for the development and delivery of 18 spacecraft platforms to support next-generation missile tracking from space.

LUNR Q1 Revenue Triples Over Year

Intuitive Machines reported its first-quarter (Q1) results earlier this month. While it missed Wall Street estimates, the company still tripled its revenue on a year-on-year basis.

Intuitive Machines reported a loss of $0.25 per share on revenue of $186.7 million, compared to Wall Street estimates of a loss of $0.07 per share on revenue of $205 million, according to Fiscal.ai data.

The company reported a loss of $0.09 per share during the same period a year ago, while its revenue stood at $62.52 million.

What Are Retail Investors Expecting From LUNR?

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Intuitive Machines trended in the ‘bullish’ territory, with message volumes at ‘normal’ levels at the time of writing.

One user on the platform believes that LUNR stock could soar another 70% by the end of this year.

Another bullish user praised Intuitive Machines, stating that the company is executing its space strategy perfectly.

Where Do Wall Street Analysts See LUNR Stock Heading?

According to TheFly, analysts at Deutsche Bank raised their price target for LUNR to $34 from $22, while keeping a ‘Buy’ rating. The analysts cited Intuitive Machines bagging multiple contract awards as the reason for their bullish outlook.

Roth Capital raised its price target on Intuitive Machines to $50 from $35 and reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating.

The firm pointed to robust results, a strong backlog, and an additional ground station acquisition, adding that the company is expanding its lunar mission capabilities while diversifying beyond its traditional dependence on NASA-led lunar programs.

Cantor Fitzgerald increased its price target on Intuitive Machines to $43 from $26 and reiterated its ‘Overweight’ rating. The firm cited confidence in the company's reaffirmed fiscal 2026 revenue guidance and projected positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), while highlighting the pending Lunar Terrain Vehicle award as a potential catalyst.

According to Koyfin data, seven of the nine analysts covering LUNR rate the stock a ‘Buy,’ while one analyst has a ‘Hold’ rating and another recommends ‘Sell.’

LUNR stock is up 136% year-to-date and 234% over the past 12 months. The Procure Space ETF (UFO) is up 154% over the past 12 months, while the S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) is up 47%.

The ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) is up 75% during this period, while the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX) is up 74%.

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