SA国际传媒

Shares of closed up 34% in first-day trading Thursday, demonstrating that there’s investor appetite for a new opportunity in space tech.

The Cedar Park, Texas-based company, which offers launch, land and in-space services for national security and commercial customers, raised $868 million in the offering. It priced shares聽 late Wednesday at $45 each, above the projected range. The company is trading on under the ticker symbol FLY.

The IPO follows a string of well-received venture-backed debuts, including last week鈥檚 blockbuster market entry by design software provider , which saw shares triple in first-day trading.

For Firefly, meanwhile, investors aren鈥檛 flocking to buy for profitability. The 11-year-old company posted a net loss of $231 million in 2024 and $60 million in the first quarter of this year, per its IPO prospectus.

However, it is seeing growing revenue. In Q1 2025, revenue totaled $55.9 million, up from just $8.3 million in the same period a year earlier. That said, it should be noted that revenue recognition can be complex for Firefly鈥檚 sector, which is reliant on multiyear contracts that may be announced some time before they are paid out.

Firefly鈥檚 IPO comes amid a relatively robust period for investment in space tech startups, with multiple rounds above $100 million closing this year. Investors are particularly bullish about opportunities at the intersection of space tech and AI.

For its part, Firefly raised close to $700 million in equity funding over the years. Its largest stakeholder is , with 47% of pre-IPO shares, per Firefly鈥檚 prospectus.

In addition to rising share prices, the current IPO market is characterized by high valuations being minted. While Figma shares have fallen some in recent days, for instance, it鈥檚 still valued at over $40 billion.

Another mega-debut came from AI infrastructure provider , with a recent market cap around $57 billion. Shares of the New Jersey company have also more than doubled since its April IPO. The strongest performer among big IPOs, meanwhile, is , up more than 4x since its June market entry.

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