Key Points
Firefly went public at $45 on Thursday before shooting up past $60 a share.
On Friday, the stock gave up $10 of yesterday’s gains, and closed closer to $50.
Firefly stock remains a very expensive space IPO.
10 stocks we like better than Firefly Aerospace ›
Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ: FLY), the Nasdaq exchange’s newest space stock, went public at $45 on Thursday and quickly surged to close its first abridged day of trading up 34.1% at $60.35.
On Friday, it didn’t quite lose all its gains, but it did lose most of them.
Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »
Image source: Getty Images.
Firefly’s Freaky Friday
Firefly stock tumbled to close down 16.9% on Friday at $50.17. That’s still $5 and change more than the initial public offering (IPO) price, but a lot of Thursday’s IPO gains got vaporized as sentiment turned against the stock — or perhaps it’s more accurate to say, against space stocks in general.
Thursday, you see, also saw weak earnings reports out of other spacefarers, including BlackSky Technology and Redwire Corp., both of which continued to fall in Friday trading.
Even Rocket Lab, one of the most popular space stocks lately, received little love from investors after reporting mixed earnings (sales ahead of forecasts, but profits below) Friday, and its stock closed up only 1.1%.
Is Firefly Aerospace stock a buy?
The good news for investors who missed out on Firefly’s IPO is that today, at $50 and change, Firefly stock already sells much closer to its original price, giving would-be IPO buyers a second bite at the apple. The bad news, as I described in my pre-IPO note on the company, is that Firefly stock was already looking pretty pricey at the $45 IPO price.
Valued at an “astronomical” 27 times, I thought Firefly stock probably cost too much on IPO day already. At $50-plus a share today, its valuation is pushing 30 times sales. Even with a phenomenal sales growth rate, that’s probably more than the stock is worth.
My advice: Even if you’re tempted to buy Firefly now, wait for a better price.
Should you invest $1,000 in Firefly Aerospace right now?
Before you buy stock in Firefly Aerospace, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Firefly Aerospace wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $636,563!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,108,033!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025
Rich Smith has positions in Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
