Firefly Aerospace Valued at $6 Billion Ahead of IPO

Space technology company Firefly Aerospace has been valued at $6 billion ahead of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO).

The latest valuation comes after the company, which manufactures lunar landers and rockets, said in a regulatory filing that it expects to price shares in its IPO between $41 and $43 apiece. The price range values Firefly Aerospace at $6 billion and will raise nearly $700 million for the company at the top end of the range.

Firefly Aerospace plans to list shares on the Nasdaq (NDAQ) exchange on August 6 and begin trading under the ticker symbol “FLY.” The company is the latest space technology firm to go public as interest in the commercial space sector intensifies. Rival space technology firm Voyager Technologies (VOYG) went public in June of this year.

The Iron is Hot

Firefly primarily makes rockets and lunar landers, and is known for launching satellites into space. The company’s clients and partners include major U.S. defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin (LMT), L3Harris (LHX), and NASA.

Firefly Aerospace recently received a $50 million investment from defense contractor Northrop Grumman (NOC). As part of its IPO prospectus, Firefly reported that its revenue jumped from $8.3 million a year ago to $55.9 million at the end of March. However, Firefly is not yet profitable and its net loss swelled to $60.1 million from $52.8 million a year earlier.

Is FLY Stock a Buy?

Firefly Aerospace is not yet publicly traded. So instead, we’ll look at the performance of its rival Voyager Technologies, which went public recently. As one can see below, the stock currently has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among seven Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on five Buy and two Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average VOYG price target of $49 implies 22.93% upside from current levels.

Read more analyst ratings on VOYG stock