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Monday’s excuse to moon
Firefly Aerospace is having one of those days where the stock does the thing and the headlines politely show up afterward. Shares jumped after the company said its SciTec subsidiary won a new Air Force Research Laboratory contract tied to advanced algorithms and verification architecture — the kind of defense-work phrasing that basically translates to “the government wants this tech, now.”
The earnings hangover is wearing off
The stock also got a boost from last week’s first-quarter results, which came in a little better than Wall Street expected. Revenue hit $80.88 million, topping estimates, and the adjusted loss of 46 cents a share was narrower than analysts were bracing for. Not exactly “party on the beach” numbers, but enough to remind investors this isn’t just a moon-landing meme stock.
Why you should care
What matters here is visibility. Firefly ended the quarter with roughly $1.3 billion in backlog, which gives the business more runway than your average startup with a fancy deck and a prayer. The company is still burning cash — free cash flow was negative $78.9 million — but the mix of backlog, defense work, and commercial partnerships is making the story look a lot sturdier.
The Nvidia angle keeps it spicy
Then there’s the Nvidia collaboration, which helps Firefly’s Ocula Moon imaging service process data on orbit instead of making everyone wait around like it’s dial-up internet. That doesn’t turn Firefly into a software company, but it does suggest the company wants to play in the “space plus AI plus defense” sandbox — and that’s a combo investors tend to pay attention to.
Big picture: Firefly is still expensive-looking on the chart, but the business is stacking up enough real contracts and programs that the rally doesn’t feel completely out of nowhere.