Redwire Shares Pop in Pre-Holiday Trade as Drone News Draws Attention

24 May 2026

New York, May 24, 2026, 11:01 EDT

Redwire ended Friday at $17.49, up 14% for the session and around 24% higher for the week.
This round of buying came after a $15 million U.S. Army drone training order and a NATO drone contract in the high eight figures.
U.S. stock markets will stay closed Monday for Memorial Day. The next test for the rally comes when trading resumes Tuesday.

Redwire Corp (RDW) is set for the holiday week after posting a strong rally Friday. Stock jumped 13.9% to $17.49. More than 55 million shares traded. Investors moved in after signals that Redwire’s drone group is landing bigger military contracts.

Redwire stock jumped about 24% from the prior Friday’s close after the company last week showed two new contract wins, as it tries to stretch from space hardware into uncrewed aircraft. U.S. markets are closed for the weekend and for Monday’s Memorial Day.

Redwire won a $15 million follow-on order from the 1st Aviation Brigade, U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, for its Stalker uncrewed aerial systems, the company said Wednesday. These military drones are used for things like reconnaissance and target acquisition. Redwire said this is its third order from that customer in the past eight months, bringing recent order totals to $24.8 million.

Redwire said one day ago it has landed a multi-year contract in the “high eight-figures” range from a NATO ally to supply its Penguin Mk3 tactical UAS. Redwire Defense Tech president Steve Adlich called the deal “a forward-looking approach” to tactical drone upgrades among NATO partners. Redwire

New orders came in after Redwire’s first-quarter numbers put defense front and center. The company posted Q1 revenue of $97.0 million, up 57.9% year over year, with a record backlog at $498.1 million. Backlog, which is work under contract but not yet in reported sales, jumped. The book-to-bill ratio rose to 1.92, showing almost twice as much in new orders as revenue for the quarter.

Redwire CEO Peter Cannito said the release shows “very strong demand” for the company’s products. CFO Chris Edmunds noted “record total liquidity,” with Redwire keeping its 2026 revenue outlook of $450 million to $500 million unchanged. Redwire Corporation

AE Industrial Partners converted the rest of its Series A convertible preferred shares in Redwire into 15,247,586 common shares this week, Redwire said in a filing. That move leaves no preferred stock at Redwire. A separate Schedule 13D/A showed the common shares were sold in open-market deals and AEI’s reported stake is now under 5%.

Redwire pulled in buyers along with other space and defense stocks. Rocket Lab jumped 8.2% Friday, AeroVironment was up 6.8%, and Kratos Defense picked up 2.8%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF gained 0.4%. The match isn’t perfect, but it points to where investors see Redwire—part small-cap space systems, part military drone and autonomy play.

The rally comes with clear risks. Redwire reported a first-quarter net loss of $76.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA—which excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and some one-time items—came in at negative $9.2 million. Management flagged possible delays, tough competition, government budget uncertainty and challenges turning backlog into revenue as key risks.

Markets get a short week with the New York Stock Exchange shut Monday. Trading picks up Tuesday, and investors look to see if Friday’s high-volume swing was just about contract headlines or if Redwire’s defense-tech move is driving a bigger re-rate.

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Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

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