Age of Austerity Pushes New 52-Week Lows on Satellite Imaging (GEOY, DGI)

The age of austerity is catching up with digital photo companies offering birdseye satellite images to subscribers.  As you can imagine, the military and intelligence branches are the main markets even if the firms have been adding private research outfits using satellite imaging for advanced market intelligence.  The current austerity measures are calling for lower spending and the Obama plan reportedly has cut $7 billion from the satellite program.

GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) is down over 5% at $18.22 and the stock hit a new 52-week low of $18.11 today.  DigitalGlobe, Inc. (NYSE: DGI) is down 8.4% at $13.83 and shares also hit a new 52-week low of $13.59 today.

VP Walter Scott spent $95,000 to buy 6,400 shares of DigitalGlobe at $14.94 and Chief Accounting Officer Carl Long spent just under $15,000 to purchase 600 shares of DigitalGlobe on Monday.

Bloomberg noted on Monday, “GeoEye, based in Herndon, Virginia, in 2010 received a $3.8 billion contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency for the program, and DigitalGlobe, based in Longmont, Colorado, received a $3.55 billion contract. The public-private partnership was designed to support existing government satellites… The Pentagon faces cuts ranging from $450 billion to $1 trillion during the next decade under the deficit-reduction deal President Barack Obama signed into law on Aug. 2.”