Shares of SpaceX peer Firefly rocketing higher on 1Q earnings, Golden Dome inclusion

Shares of Firefly Aerospace, a mid-cap company developing launch vehicles and orbital spacecraft, surged nearly 9% in premarket trading on Tuesday. First, the company announced that its subsidiary would participate in the U.S. missile-defense program Golden Dome; then came first-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts.

Firefly shares jumped nearly 9% in premarket trading on Tuesday to $36.30 per share. A day earlier, the company said its subsidiary SciTec had signed an agreement with U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command to participate in the Golden Dome program, which provides for the creation of a multilayer missile-defense system.

Later that day, Firefly reported a 40% year-over-year increase in first-quarter revenue to a record $80.9 million. Wall Street had projected revenue of $77.1 million, Barron’s notes. The net loss for the same period widened nearly 61% to $96.7 million. At this stage, however, investors are more focused on sales growth than profitability, according to Barron’s.

Firefly develops launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital spacecraft and – like Elon Musk’s SpaceX – provides launch services to government and commercial customers. It describes itself as the only company capable of executing a responsive space mission and delivering a satellite to orbit in approximately 24 hours.

In early 2025, Firefly “accomplished an astoundingly successful landing on the moon” using its Blue Ghost spacecraft for NASA, analyst Rich Smith wrote in an article for the Motley Fool.

In August of the same year, the company completed an IPO on Nasdaq that Reuters described as the largest in the space tech sector. Due to strong demand, Firefly increased the offering by 19% to 19.3 million shares, while the IPO price exceeded the upper end of the initially announced range by more than 15%.

On its first day of trading, Firefly shares jumped 55%, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $9.84 billion. Since then, however, the stock has lost more than 52% of its value. The decline was driven by weak second-quarter 2025 results, as well as unsuccessful launches of the company’s Alpha rocket. The missions either failed outright or placed satellites into incorrect orbits.

Everything has changed in 2026. In March, the company successfully launched a rocket that reached orbit and delivered a demonstrator payload for Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense contractor. That same month, Firefly reported that fourth-quarter revenue had jumped 6.4 times year over year, while the loss per share narrowed 29-fold. Both figures beat Wall Street expectations.

As a result, Firefly shares have surged more than 49% year to date. The stock has five “buy” ratings and three “hold” ratings from Wall Street analysts. There are no “sell” recommendations on the stock. The average target price stands at $37.60 per share, implying upside of nearly 13% versus the Monday closing price.