Gunther Karger of Discovery Group offered a comment expressing his satisfaction with the company's progress in the defense business and congratulated management on its excellent overall performance.
CEO Adi Sfadia thanked Mr. Karger for his positive comments and congratulations.
Gunther Karger requested a repeat of the company's earlier comments regarding the impact of global trade tariffs on its business.
CEO Adi Sfadia reiterated that it is too early to fully assess the impact, but it currently appears not to be significant. He highlighted that Gilat proactively mitigated risk by shifting raw material sourcing to lower-tariff countries and moving U.S. defense manufacturing domestically. He concluded that the situation appears stable for now but is being monitored closely.
Gunther Karger posed a technology-focused question on whether the Stellar Blu acquisition would enable Gilat to expand beyond passenger connectivity into the aircraft operational communications market, which is traditionally served by HF/VHF systems.
CEO Adi Sfadia clarified that Stellar Blu is focused on delivering electronically steered antennas for passenger connectivity and has no intention of entering the air-to-ground market or competing with its service provider customers. He noted that while using the antenna for operational communications is theoretically possible, it is a highly regulated area and would require significant regulatory changes to be permitted.
Gunther Karger asked for the specific reason behind the CFIUS approval delay for the Stellar Blu acquisition and whether a change in the U.S. administration could negatively impact the DataPath business.
CEO Adi Sfadia explained that there was no specific issue with the CFIUS review; the process is simply taking longer than anticipated, similar to the DataPath acquisition timeline. He expressed confidence in receiving approval soon. He also stated that he does not believe a change in the U.S. administration would affect DataPath's business, given the size of the DoD budget and Gilat's significant growth potential in that market.