Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH -0.57%) stock is on a roll -- but not the good kind. The kind that goes downhill. Shares of the government contractor have fallen for four straight days, with losses piling up especially quickly over the last two days. Shares fell more than 5% yesterday, for example. And as of 10:40 a.m. ET Thursday, Booz Allen Hamilton stock is down another 4.4%.
So what happened yesterday to accelerate the slide?
Booz Allen Hamilton goes to space
Booz Allen Hamilton had a curious announcement to make yesterday. Historically best known as a management consultant to the government, the company ventured further into the field of space technology with a direct investment into privately owned Starfish Space.
Who is Starfish Space, you ask? Booz Allen Hamilton describes it as "an emerging leader in satellite servicing, inclusive of satellite life extension and end-of-life disposal," and run by "former engineers from Blue Origin and NASA." Starfish already has a space tug in development to perform such missions, the Otter.
It's already run at least one demonstration mission for the U.S. Space Force, partnered with NASA on a second, and signed a contract with Intelsat to perform a third. Space Force has awarded the company at least $37.5 million in contracts.
What all of this means for Booz Allen Hamilton
So what's Booz Allen Hamilton's role in all of the above? It probably isn't huge. Booz boasts a $20 billion market capitalization, but its Booz Allen Ventures arm only has about $100 million in cash to deploy, so presumably little capital has been put at risk. At the same time, if the investment succeeds in helping to "accelerate [Starfish] toward the launch of the first Otters" and getting the business off the ground, Booz should participate at least somewhat in any growth in Starfish's valuation -- and perhaps profit even more from an eventual IPO.
Meanwhile, Booz notes Starfish is the third space-focused investment by its venture capital arm, and says it has a "commitment" to this strategy. If investors didn't like this one, they should be aware that more such deals may be on the way.
