New York, June 5, 2026, 06:02 EDT
- Redwire shares jumped 15.1% to finish at $21.43 Thursday. The move followed news of a space-agriculture contract linked to its commercial greenhouse setup.
- NYSE trading hadn’t kicked off as of the dateline. U.S. stocks normally trade from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.
- The stock also got a boost from a new U.S. Army drone contract this week, but the company didn’t say how much the greenhouse deal was worth.
Redwire Corporation shares head into Friday up 15%, fueled by news of a deal to grow wild strawberries on the International Space Station in what the company says is the first commercial space greenhouse. The stock finished Thursday at $21.43, rising $2.81. Volume was 74.6 million shares.
Market action in listed space stocks has turned jumpy, with small contract news sending shares swinging while profits are still mostly out of sight. The S&P 500 edged up 0.4% on Thursday. Redwire saw almost $600 million tacked onto its market cap, according to Barron’s.
Luxembourg-based Astrobiome Space picked Redwire to run tests on a soil-enhancement product inside Redwire’s ISS greenhouse, the company said. The biostimulant is meant to help plants grow or resist stress. Redwire said it will be used to grow the first wild strawberries in space.
Marc Dielissen, EVP at Redwire Europe, called the award an “exciting step forward” for “sustainable life-support systems beyond Earth.” Astrobiome Space CEO Vera Mulyani said the first strawberry grown in space “will be tiny.” Redwire Corporation
Redwire didn’t disclose how much the contract is worth. Traders treated the news as more of a signal for demand in the company’s space infrastructure, not as an immediate boost to Redwire’s revenue.
Redwire Defense landed a $15.9 million firm-fixed-price deal from the U.S. Department of War in the last 48 hours. The contract is for eight Stalker Block 35 uncrewed aircraft systems—drones used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.
A separate Army contract posting lists AeroVironment with a much larger $117.3 million award for P550 unmanned aircraft systems. The numbers point to a wider Army buying spree on drones, not just a single Redwire order.
Rocket Lab finished 4.6% higher on Thursday in the listed space group, Barron’s reported. AST SpaceMobile edged down 0.4%. The moves show money still pushes into space stocks, but it’s jumping between tickers.
Redwire posted first-quarter revenue of $97.0 million, a gain of 57.9% year over year. Backlog came in at a record $498.1 million. Backlog refers to contracted work not yet done and is a measure of potential future sales, a metric investors watch.
Redwire CEO Peter Cannito said in May the company is seeing “very strong demand.” CFO Chris Edmunds said Redwire is sticking with its 2026 revenue target of $450 million to $500 million. Redwire Corporation
Risks remain high for Redwire. The company saw a first-quarter net loss of $76.5 million. Its backlog is at risk from terminations or contract changes, and Redwire warns about stock-price volatility, customer concentration, launch risk, and the difficulty of converting backlog into revenue.
Friday’s open will give a read on how much momentum the strawberry headline really has. Redwire is being treated by the market as a mix of space-infrastructure and defense-drone. That balance is working in this tape, but the company still doesn’t have consistent earnings.
