Firefly Aerospace's stock has lost its shine, as the company's first earnings report disappoints

By James Rogers

Shares of Firefly Aerospace were tumbling to trade below the IPO price following the space-exploration company's first quarterly results

Space-exploration company Firefly Aerospace reported its first quarterly results as a public company late Monday.

When Firefly Aerospace Inc. went public last month, investors jumped aboard to send the stock skyrocketing, but they quickly jumped off, and the shares have floundered ever since.

While there was some optimism ahead of the space-exploration company's first quarterly report since going public on Aug. 7, the company failed to deliver, with fiscal second-quarter revenue missing Wall Street expectations by a wide margin and losses widening.

The stock (FLY) tumbled 11.5% in midday trading Tuesday to fall back below the initial public offering price of $45, where it has been trading for much of September. It has now tumbled 40.6% from the intraday high of $73.80 the stock reached on its first day of trading.

The company's results, though, are par for the course given the nature of the space industry, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Colin Canfield. "We think space manufacturing and especially launch will always bring a high degree of lumpiness that makes meeting quarterly expectations difficult, although we are vigilant for how profitability drives investor sentiment," he wrote in a note released Monday.

Shares of Voyager Technologies Inc. (VOYG), which went public in June, have also traded below their $31 IPO price for much of the past several months, although the space stock has rallied back above that level this week.

Meanwhile, shares of Karman Holdings Inc. (KRMN), which was the first space IPO of the year, have soared since their debut in February. The stock was trading Tuesday at more than triple the $22 IPO price.

Profitability, or lack of it, could be a factor. Whereas Firefly Aerospace and Voyager Technologies both reported wider losses than a year ago in their latest quarterly results, Karman Holdings generated record net income.

Firefly reported late Monday a net loss for the quarter to June 30 that widened to $80.3 million, or $5.78 a share, from $48.7 million, or $4.60 a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue dropped 26.2% to $15.55 million. The results missed the average analyst estimates compiled by FactSet of a per-share loss of 43 cents and revenue of $16.8 million.

But some analysts are still bullish on the Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly, particularly given opportunities in defense. Cantor's Canfield says that tactically responsive space, space-domain awareness, and missile defense could drive near-term growth as well as cash generation for the company.

Tactically responsive space is the ability to quickly launch space systems in response to military needs. Speaking during the conference call to discuss the second-quarter results, Firefly CEO Jason Kim said that the company's Alpha rocket is the only rocket to successfully perform a tactically responsive space launch with 24-hour notice from the U.S. Space Force.

Space-domain awareness refers to cyber, ground and space-based systems that can detect and predict threats to space systems. Earlier this year, Firefly was awarded a Department of Defense contract to use its Elytra spacecraft in low-Earth orbit space-domain awareness operations.

J.P. Morgan analyst Seth Seifman also sees opportunity for Firefly around President Donald Trump's ambitious $175 billion plan to build a "Golden Dome" missile-defense shield. Elytra, Seifman explained, could conduct "rendezvous proximity operations" and provide communications capabilities for Golden Dome. The analyst also noted that the Department of Defense recently solicited proposals for space-based interceptors to support the missile shield. "We will be watching how Firefly approaches this opportunity," he added.

Firefly Aerospace was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when its Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon with 10 NASA payloads. The company is planning to deliver the first U.S. lander to the far side of the moon next year.

-James Rogers

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-23-25 1221ET