Firefly’s CEO Jason Kim reacts during the company’s IPO at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City, U.S., August 7, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters
Firefly Aerospace jumped more than 34% in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday after pricing shares above its expected range.
The stock closed at $60.35, valuing the company at roughly $8.5 billion. Shares initially opened at $70 under the ticker symbol FLY.
Space technology has gained momentum in recent years as companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX amass more funding and government contracts. Firefly is the third space company to go public this year after Voyager Technologies and Karman Holdings.
The rocket and lunar lander maker priced shares late Wednesday at $45, above its expected range of $41 to $43, raising $868 million. Earlier this week, Firefly had hiked its range up from the $35 to $39 it initially expected.
Firefly’s customers have included a growing list of key defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and L3Harris, and the company recently received a $50 million investment from Northrop Grumman. Last month, Firefly also won a $177 million contract with NASA.
“It’s all about execution,” CEO Jason Kim told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “We’re focused on rating up our alpha rockets because there’s so much demand for the response of dedicated one-ton launches from national security, commercial, as well as hypersonic missile testing.”
Jason Kim, chief executive officer of Firefly Aerospace, center, during the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Earlier this year, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon in a mission funded by NASA. Firefly is also widely known for its Alpha rocket and has said in its initial public offering filing that its backlog totaled about $1.1 billion at the end of March.
In its IPO filing, Firefly said revenue in the latest quarter jumped sixfold to $55.9 million from $8.3 million. However, the company reported a net loss of about $60.1 million, up from $52.8 million in the year-ago period.
Beyond just space, the tech IPO market has started to heat up this year after an extended dry spell due to high inflation and rising interest rates. Figma, Circle and CoreWeave have all debuted in 2025 and seen their stocks pop.
Defense and aerospace private equity firm AE Industrial Partners owns a more than 41% stake in Firefly and controls the company, according to the prospectus. Of Firefly’s nine board members, five currently work at the firm. AE has $6.4 billion in assets under management, according to its website.
