What happened?
Shares of global satellite communications provider Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) jumped 14% in the afternoon session after the company announced its selection by NASA as one of three commercial awardees for Phase 1 of the NEXUS initiative under the NextSTEP-3 Broad Agency Announcement, with a maximum potential contract value of $460.9 million across future phases.
According to the company’s press release, Viasat will develop commercial Ka-band space relay capabilities for near-Earth missions. NASA awarded the firm-fixed-price contract as it plans to retire its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite fleet. The program aims to establish commercial space communication services to support government operations across future phases.
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What is the market telling us
Viasat’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 74 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Viasat and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 26 days ago when the stock dropped 7.7% on the news that a broad pickup in energy expenses lifted September inflation to 3.7%, surpassing expectations and driving bond yields higher. The hotter-than-anticipated inflation reading dampened market sentiment across Wall Street, weighing heavily on major benchmark indexes and pulling equities down from recent highs. When inflation accelerates, it often increases expectations that borrowing costs will remain elevated for an extended period to curb economic overheating.
Elevated interest rates can compress corporate valuations, particularly across growth sectors such as technology and semiconductors, where future earnings expectations play a central role in pricing.
Semiconductor shares faced extended pressure, marking their seventh consecutive session of declines as market participants recalibrated risk appetites. Beyond higher financing expenses, persistent energy-driven inflation risks squeezing operating margins and weakening broader enterprise spending. Investors are continuing to evaluate whether persistent price pressures will lead to tighter financial conditions and prolonged headwinds for capital-intensive industries.
Viasat is up 96.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $73.88 per share, it is still trading 17.7% below its 52-week high of $89.81 from June 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Viasat’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,344.
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