NEW YORK, June 3, 2026, 12:06 EDT
- Redwire shares dropped around 8.7% by midday, under more pressure after Jefferies cut its rating on valuation grounds.
- Space stocks have been volatile as the group pulls back before SpaceX’s planned record IPO.
- Redwire posted strong revenue gains and a record backlog in its latest operating update, but losses are still high.
Redwire Corporation stock fell hard Wednesday as space stocks lost ground. The group had surged, but now investors are asking if growth is already priced in.
The stock dropped 8.7% to $18.78 near midday in New York. Volume passed 26 million shares and the company’s market cap hovered around $3.6 billion. The shares moved between $18.45 and $20.42 during the session.
Redwire has become one of the few publicly traded names tied to the commercial-space trade, a theme that’s getting more attention as SpaceX targets what could be the biggest IPO ever. SpaceX is looking to raise $75 billion at $135 a share, according to Reuters, which cited a source. That IPO would be the company’s first sale of stock to public investors.
Jefferies’ Sheila Kahyaoglu downgraded Redwire to “Hold” from “Buy” after the stock jumped 163% this month. The analyst at the same time raised her price target to $24 from $13. “We see limited near-term upside from here,” Kahyaoglu wrote, according to Barron’s. Barron’s
The trade-off is clear. The company picked up new contracts and its defense-drone business is bigger, but the stock had already rallied ahead of near-term earnings before the slide this week.
Space stocks traded lower on Wednesday. Rocket Lab gave up 5.9%. Intuitive Machines was down 12.5%, AST SpaceMobile dropped 7.9%. The Procure Space ETF lost 3.9%. Moves were not limited to Redwire, with losses running across the group.
Redwire’s latest earnings release offered bulls some positives. First-quarter revenue jumped 57.9% to $97.0 million, while backlog came in at $498.1 million. The backlog figure refers to contract work not yet counted as revenue. CEO Peter Cannito said the company had “very strong demand” and noted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.92. That compares orders signed to revenue recognized in the quarter. Redwire Corporation
Redwire’s first-quarter report did not calm the doubters. The company posted a net loss of $76.5 million with adjusted EBITDA at negative $9.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA is Redwire’s own profit metric that excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and other items, not the same as U.S. GAAP net income.
Redwire is pushing further into drones. The company said May 20 it landed a $15 million follow-on order for Stalker drone systems from the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence. Redwire Defense Tech president Steve Adlich said Stalker is “purpose built to meet multiple mission needs” and will help the Army “detect, identify, and track threats.” Redwire Corporation
Redwire said a day ago that it won a high-eight-figure, multi-year deal from an unnamed NATO ally to supply Penguin Mk3 tactical drones. Adlich said the program showed Redwire’s “forward-looking approach to tactical UAS modernization for NATO allies.” Redwire Corporation
But there’s a risk these contract figures won’t bring in cash fast enough to prop up the valuation. Redwire’s latest quarterly filing warns that contracts might get changed, canceled, or cut short, and a number of multi-year deals need funding each year. The company might not be able to turn the backlog into sales. Redwire also relies a lot on U.S. government contracts, which aren’t always fully funded and come with tight rules.
SpaceX’s IPO talk continues to pull attention to public space stocks, but the main setup this week is on Redwire. Its backlog story is better than it was a year ago. Still, with shares up sharply since spring, the market isn’t giving Redwire much more credit without seeing orders convert to revenue, margins, and real cash flow.
