Shift4 stock surges after company signs payments deal with SpaceX's Starlink

KEY POINTS

• Shares of payments processing company Shift4 surged in trading on Wednesday after the company announced a five-year partnership with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service.
• "Starlink is a cornerstone, global client opening up opportunity throughout the globe. By servicing the business globally, Shift4's [total addressable market] expands in all the verticals we serve," the company said.
• Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4, notably became an astronaut when he flew to orbit with SpaceX in September on the historic Inspiration4 private mission

Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

Shares of payments processing company Shift4 surged in trading on Wednesday after the company announced a five-year partnership with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service.

"Starlink is a cornerstone, global client opening up opportunity throughout the globe. By servicing the business globally, Shift4's [total addressable market] expands in all the verticals we serve," the company said in an investor letter published with its third-quarter results.

Shift4 stock jumped 18% in trading from its previous close of $58.72 a share.

Starlink is SpaceX's project to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet. Elon Musk's company has launched 1,740 Starlink satellites to date, and the network has more than 100,000 users in 14 countries who are participating in a public beta, with service priced at $99 a month.

Shift4 outlined that it will begin converting Starlink "domestic payment volume" to its services over the next 120 days. The payments company sees the SpaceX partnership as a "massive" opportunity, estimating $100 billion in Starlink subscription payments over the long term, based on Morgan Stanley's estimates for SpaceX's potential revenue growth.

Shift4

According to the company's website, Shift4 processes more than 3.5 billion transactions annually for more than 7,000 partners.

Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4, notably became an astronaut when he flew to orbit with SpaceX in September on the historic Inspiration4 private mission.

"SpaceX has a restaurant and a few other hospitality venues in the works in Starbase, Texas, and you can count on our new Skytab [point-of-sale] powering commerce at those establishments," Isaacman said during the Shift4 earnings call Wednesday.

The first look at the crew in orbit, from left: Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor.

Inspiration4

SpaceX's valuation has soared in recent years to cross $100 billion, which industry analysts attribute in large part to the market potential of its Starlink service.