Firefly Aerospace Stock Tanks: What Sparked Friday’s Nosedive?

Another brutal Friday for Firefly Aerospace shareholders—shares cratered as markets digested fresh turbulence. Here’s the damage.

The Drop: More Than Just Bad Vibes

No sugarcoating it: Firefly’s stock got hammered. The usual suspects—macro fears, sector rotation, or just Wall Street’s fickleness—might’ve played a role. But whispers of a delayed launch (again) lit the fuse.

Space Stocks: Not Exactly Mooning

Investors treat space SPACs like expired rocket fuel—hot until they’re not. Firefly’s dip fits the pattern: high hopes, harsh reality checks. Meanwhile, crypto traders laugh in 24/7 volatility.

What’s Next? Liftoff or Crash Landing?

Either Firefly’s next launch redeems the hype, or this becomes another ‘story stock’ collecting dust in hedge fund graveyards. Place your bets—just maybe not with your rent money.

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 and, both of which continued to fall in Friday trading.

Even, 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.