The stock of space exploration company Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) strongly defied gravity on Thursday. It closed the day more than 24% higher, thanks in no small part to news of a major price-target increase from an analyst. That move came mere days after the company delivered some of the best news it’s ever reported.

Over the moon about NASA’s moon contract

The raise was enacted by B. Riley‘s Mike Crawford, who now feels a fair value estimation for Intuitive Machines should be considerably higher. He raised his by 50%, to $12 per share from the previous $8, and maintained the existing buy recommendation. The new price target anticipates upside of 29% on the stock’s most recent close.

It isn’t hard to be glowingly bullish on Intuitive Machines these days. On Tuesday, the company was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as the sole business to establish a communications system between our planet and the moon.

In the grand tradition of major federal contracts, this one is potentially worth quite a bit of coin. All told the arrangement, which will be in force for five years with an option to extend to 10, could pay out as much as $4.8 billion for the stipulated services.

A surprise solo selection

Crawford did not expect Intuitive Machines would be the only winner of the contract; he anticipated one or two other providers would also be selected for the NASA project. This added to his impression that the ambitious company “is quickly establishing itself as a full-service space exploration company on the cusp of layering in hundreds of millions of dollars of high-margin services revenue, enabling a long tail of robust free cash flow generation.”

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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why Intuitive Machines Stock Rocketed 24% Skyward on Thursday was originally published by The Motley Fool