New York, May 26, 2026, 17:01 (EDT)
- Firefly Aerospace jumped 18.8% to end at $58.81, but shares slipped in late trading as the company said it plans a common-stock offering.
- Firefly Aerospace picked up a $75 million subcontract from NASA JPL, aimed at a drone delivery mission to the south pole of the Moon.
- Space stocks jumped as investors looked to pick up public exposure to the group before an expected SpaceX IPO.
Firefly Aerospace Inc. shares jumped Tuesday but dropped in after-hours trading. The space and defense firm said it would launch a planned public offering of common stock just hours after announcing a new lunar subcontract tied to NASA.
The stock ended regular trading at $58.81, up 18.8%. It hit $62.17 at its high for the session. In after-hours action, the shares slipped to $55.91, off 4.9% from the close.
Firefly is catching a wave as investors chase space stocks. Publicly listed space firms are acting as proxies for SpaceX, which hasn’t gone public yet and is driving interest across the sector. While that’s happening, Firefly is bringing new shares to market and testing how much demand is still out there.
Firefly plans to offer 4 million new shares in a public sale, it said. Existing shareholders are looking to sell another 8 million shares. Those selling holders expect to give underwriters a 30-day option for up to 1.8 million extra shares. Proceeds from the company’s share sale go to general corporate purposes, including growth efforts, but Firefly will not get funds from shares sold by current holders. The deal is led by Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies and Wells Fargo Securities. The banks are arranging the investor orders.
Firefly announced it would sell soon after securing a $75 million subcontract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The deal tasks Firefly with delivering four drones to the Moon’s south pole for the MoonFall mission, which is planned to launch in 2028 or later. CEO Jason Kim said the contract will “push[es] the boundaries of lunar exploration.” Vice president of spacecraft Ray Allensworth said Firefly was “rapidly scaling spacecraft production.” Firefly Aerospace
The contract delivered more of the same drivers lifting other stocks in the sector—lunar business, national-security orders, and what some call the “SpaceX halo” effect. Cantor Fitzgerald’s Andres Sheppard said investor interest was up, with the SpaceX IPO “drawing more investors and attention” to space names that are well placed. TradingView
Redwire jumped 25.9% to $22.04, AST SpaceMobile added 13.1% to finish at $119.70, and Rocket Lab ended the day up 5.5% at $143.20. These are the names trading alongside Firefly today—covering infrastructure, satellite broadband, and launch.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at record levels. The Nasdaq added 1.2% and the S&P 500 gained 0.6% as tech stocks and chip names drove a post-holiday move higher. The broad market lifted.
Firefly is still in the early stages when it comes to fundamentals. The company reported $80.9 million in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, up 45% year-on-year, but net loss increased to $96.7 million. It’s guiding 2026 revenue between $420 million and $450 million.
Firefly’s stock has been running ahead of the company. The startup’s 4 million new shares are about 2.5% of the April 30 share count, and the planned 12 million-share base deal amounts to roughly 7.5%, but most of that stock is coming from current holders, not new dilution. If the deal ends up pricing at a deep discount, or if buyers step back from the SpaceX-linked trade, Firefly’s rally could fade fast.
Firefly is trading on two things for now: its latest contract wins and how soon it will need new capital. That setup works when the tape is strong. But it doesn’t leave much cushion if there’s a launch delay, if the offering prices weak, or if sentiment shifts on space stocks.
