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

Key Points

• Shares jumped at Friday’s open: Firefly Aerospace opened at $17.11, up from the prior close of $15.18, and later traded at $17.515 on volume of about 1.63 million shares.
• Analyst views are mostly positive but mixed: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $34.50, though ratings include seven Buys, four Holds, and one Sell.
• Revenue surged, but the company remains unprofitable: Quarterly revenue rose 659.2% year over year to $117.68 million, and the loss per share was narrower than expected; Firefly nevertheless reported a negative net margin and analysts expect a loss for the year.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday. The stock had previously closed at $15.18, but opened at $17.11. Firefly Aerospace shares last traded at $17.5150, with a volume of 1,627,543 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLY. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Firefly Aerospace in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Roth Capital dropped their target price on Firefly Aerospace from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Firefly Aerospace in a research report on Monday, July 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $35.00 price objective on Firefly Aerospace in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Firefly Aerospace presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.50.

Firefly Aerospace Stock Up 23.5%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.28 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $117.68 million for the quarter. Firefly Aerospace had a negative net margin of 126.64% and a negative return on equity of 22.28%. Firefly Aerospace's revenue for the quarter was up 659.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($5.78) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Firefly Aerospace, Inc. will post -2.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FLY. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Firefly Aerospace by 6.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,511 shares of the company's stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Carlson Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Firefly Aerospace by 8.8% during the second quarter. Carlson Financial Inc. now owns 8,211 shares of the company's stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the period. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in shares of Firefly Aerospace in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Firefly Aerospace by 8.0% in the third quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 19,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Firefly Aerospace by 12.6% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,830 shares of the company's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period.

About Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace, Inc is a space transportation and technology company that develops launch vehicles, lunar landers and in-space mobility systems for government and commercial customers. Based in Cedar Park, Texas, the company supports missions across the launch, lunar and orbital services markets.

Firefly's principal products include the Alpha small-to-medium-lift launch vehicle, which is designed to place satellites and other payloads into low Earth orbit; Blue Ghost lunar landers, developed to deliver scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon; and Elytra spacecraft, intended to provide in-space transportation and mission services.

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