Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Firefly Aerospace shares gapped higher, opening at $23.90 after closing at $22.86, and last traded around $24.38.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $36.82, although targets range from $35 to $50 and one analyst downgraded the stock to “Sell.”
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including an adjusted EPS loss of $0.42 versus estimates of $0.50 and 659.2% year-over-year revenue growth to $117.68 million, but it remains unprofitable with a negative net margin.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $22.86, but opened at $23.90. Firefly Aerospace shares last traded at $24.3820, with a volume of 484,645 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FLY shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Roth Capital dropped their target price on shares of Firefly Aerospace from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Firefly Aerospace from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Firefly Aerospace from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.82.

Firefly Aerospace Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.08. Firefly Aerospace had a negative net margin of 126.64% and a negative return on equity of 22.28%. The firm had revenue of $117.68 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($5.78) EPS. The company's revenue was up 659.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Firefly Aerospace, Inc. will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Firefly Aerospace

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Firefly Aerospace during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $173,573,000. Tema ETFs LLC increased its stake in Firefly Aerospace by 133,440.2% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 2,280,867 shares of the company's stock worth $67,057,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279,159 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Firefly Aerospace during the second quarter worth $63,714,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Firefly Aerospace by 43.8% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,048,335 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,621,000 after purchasing an additional 927,804 shares during the period. Finally, Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Firefly Aerospace by 151.3% in the 4th quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 1,069,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,927,000 after purchasing an additional 643,886 shares during the last quarter.

Firefly Aerospace Company Profile

Firefly Aerospace, Inc is a space transportation company that develops launch vehicles, lunar landers and spacecraft designed to support commercial, civil and national-security missions. The company provides end-to-end space services, including payload delivery, lunar surface operations and in-space transportation.

Its principal products include the Alpha rocket, a small-to-medium lift launch vehicle designed to place satellites and other payloads into orbit; the Blue Ghost lunar lander, developed to deliver scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon; and Elytra, an orbital vehicle intended to provide in-space transportation and mission services.

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