Firefly Aerospace shares jump 15% on strong revenues, boosted guidance

Firefly Aerospace‘s stock surged 15% on Wednesday after the space technology company issued better-than-expected third-quarter results and lifted its guidance.

Revenues in the third quarter jumped nearly 38% to $30.8 million from $22.4 million in the year-ago period and nearly doubled from the previous quarter.

Firefly’s net loss totaled $140.4 million, or $1.50 per share. The company said net loss included costs tied to its IPO, foreign exchange and executive severance

The company also lifted its outlook for the year, saying it now expects revenues to range between $150 million and $158 million. That’s up from previous guidance in the range of $133 million and $145 million.

This is Firefly’s second quarterly report as a public company. Last quarter, shares slumped after it posted a bigger loss and lower revenues than analysts were expecting.

The Cedar Park, Texas, company went public on the Nasdaq in August during a period of heightened enthusiasm toward space technology. The U.S. government and NASA have leaned on more contracts with companies like Firefly and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to support moon missions.

But shares of Firefly have lost 70% of their value since their opening day close, and the company’s market capitalization has plummeted from about $8.5 billion to about $2.7 billion on Wednesday.

In September, Firefly shares sank after a rocket exploded during a ground test at the company’s Texas facility, days after receiving clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration over a separate incident. Firefly has since put “corrective measures” in place, the company said on Wednesday. Shares dropped 35% in September and are down 24% this month.

Firefly in July won a nearly $177 million contract with NASA for an upcoming moon mission, and in October, it announced its acquisition of defense tech firm SciTec to boost its national security portfolio.