BREAKING: Firefly Aerospace Stock Jumps 56% On Nasdaq Debut

Firefly Aerospace debuted on the Nasdaq at $70 on Thursday, surging 56% compared to the issue price of $45.

At the time of writing, Firefly’s shares (FLY) were hovering around $69.06, surging 54% at the time of writing.

The Texas-based space and defense technology company offered 19.3 million shares for subscription, with the IPO priced at $45, helping the company raise $868.3 million. This values Firefly at $6.32 billion.

Despite listing 56% higher and the broader retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the Firefly stock hovering in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory, a poll on the platform found that nearly half of the respondents are avoiding the stock, while 29% are buying to hold it for the long term.

Fifteen percent of the respondents are buying it for a short-term trade, while 9% are trading around the volatility.

Earlier, Firefly upsized its IPO from a price range of $35 to $39 per share to $41 to $43 per share. The final pricing implies there was enough buzz for Firefly to exceed its upsized IPO.

The lead underwriters of the Firefly IPO were Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo Securities, according to the company’s regulatory filing.

Founded in 2017, Firefly Aerospace makes small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, orbital vehicles, and lunar landers. It claims it can launch satellites to orbit at a 24-hour notice. According to the company’s S-1 filing, it had $176.9 million in cash and cash equivalents at the end of March. Its debt stood at $173.6 million, of which $136.1 million was via a term loan.

The company cited its partnership with SpaceX as one of its competitive strengths. It has also teamed up with Blue Origin’s subsidiary to procure a rover that will accompany its lunar lander on an upcoming NASA mission.

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