Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY) Trading 13.2% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Firefly shares jumped 13.2% intraday to about $35.69, with roughly 2.51 million shares traded—around 48% below average session volume.
• Analysts are mixed but consensus is Hold with a $40.56 price target; six firms rate the stock Buy, four Hold and one Sell, and several firms (Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, B. Riley) have recently raised targets or initiated coverage.
• Firefly beat the quarter's EPS estimate (reported -$0.46 vs. consensus -$0.50) and revenue rose 44.8% to $80.88 million, but the company remains unprofitable with negative margins and analysts expect -1.8 EPS for the year.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 13.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $35.07 and last traded at $35.6880. 2,508,785 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 4,832,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FLY shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Firefly Aerospace from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Firefly Aerospace from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Firefly Aerospace from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Firefly Aerospace from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Firefly Aerospace currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.56.

Firefly Aerospace Trading Up 9.6%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.47. The company has a current ratio of 4.51, a quick ratio of 4.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.24.

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.04. Firefly Aerospace had a negative return on equity of 58.52% and a negative net margin of 181.16%.The firm had revenue of $80.88 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($5.09) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 44.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Firefly Aerospace, Inc. will post -1.8 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Firefly Aerospace news, General Counsel David Leigh Wheeler sold 3,766 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.04, for a total transaction of $169,620.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 142,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,429,820.32. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLY. Canal Insurance CO acquired a new position in Firefly Aerospace during the 3rd quarter worth $293,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace during the third quarter worth approximately $293,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace during the third quarter worth approximately $3,836,000. LBP AM SA acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace during the third quarter worth approximately $1,795,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace during the third quarter worth approximately $14,468,000.

About Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace NASDAQ: FLY is a U.S.-based aerospace company that designs, manufactures and operates launch vehicles and in-space systems for commercial, civil and national security customers. The company focuses on providing end-to-end small- and medium-lift launch services, mission integration and spacecraft hardware to support satellite deployment and on-orbit operations.

Firefly's product portfolio includes the Alpha small launch vehicle, developed to carry small satellites to low Earth orbit, and plans for larger vehicles and in-space capabilities to address a range of payload sizes and mission profiles.

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