Firefly Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:FLY) shares traded lower on Thursday, extending their recent decline as the stock moved closer to its latest support levels.
The drop significantly outpaced the broader market, with the Nasdaq down 1.04% and the S&P 500 slipping 0.15%. The Industrials sector gained 0.13%, suggesting Firefly’s weakness was largely company-specific.
What Is Pressuring Firefly Stock?
FLY remains in a sustained downtrend following its May swing high and June swing low, with sellers retaining control despite a string of NASA-related awards and launch milestones.
On Jul. 7, Firefly secured a $13 million NASA subcontract to build an aeroshell for the SkyFall Mars mission, targeted for a late-2028 launch.
On Jul. 2, the company highlighted a roughly $144 million NASA contract for a Blue Ghost lunar mission planned for 2028. Firefly also reported progress toward launching its Alpha rocket from Sweden’s Esrange Space Center beginning in 2028.
On Jun. 30, shares of Firefly, Intuitive Machines, and Voyager Technologies advanced after NASA announced nearly $600 million in lunar-delivery awards. Astrobotic received $297.9 million, Firefly secured $144.2 million, and Intuitive Machines received $148.3 million.
Sector Dilution
The broader space sector experienced sharp declines on Thursday, driven by corporate debt offerings. AST SpaceMobile Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock fell after announcing the pricing of its $1 billion proposed public offering of Convertible Senior Notes.
Dilution fears triggered a sector-wide selloff, dragging down the Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ:UFO) and the WisdomTree Space Economy Fund (NYSE:WSPC) by 2.36%.
Short Interest Rises
Short interest in Firefly Aerospace increased to 13.19 million shares from 11.84 million in the latest reporting period.
About 13.43% of the company’s publicly available shares are now sold short. Based on the average daily volume of 7.68 million shares, traders would need about 1.72 days to cover their positions.
FLY Technical Outlook
Firefly trades 25.6% below its 20-day simple moving average of $26.11 and 30.9% below its 200-day SMA of $28.11, confirming continued technical weakness.
The 20-day SMA remains below the 50-day SMA, reinforcing the bearish near-term trend. Although the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA, that longer-term bullish crossover has not produced sustained upside.
The Relative Strength Index stands at 29.39, placing the stock in oversold territory.
Key resistance sits near $22, where rebounds could stall before the stock challenges its major moving averages.
Support is around $18.50, near the lower end of the recent trading range.
Firefly Earnings Preview
Firefly is scheduled to report earnings on Aug. 11, 2026.
Analysts expect a loss of 51 cents per share, improving from a loss of $5.78 a year earlier. Revenue is projected to rise to $87.87 million from $15.55 million.
The stock carries a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $43.17. Recent analyst actions include:
- KeyBanc upgraded Firefly to Overweight with a $50 target on Jun. 15.
- Morgan Stanley maintained an Equal-Weight rating and raised its target to $37 on May 5.
- Goldman Sachs maintained a Neutral rating and raised its target to $32 on Apr. 20.
FLY Price Action: Firefly Aerospace shares were down 9.60% at $18.93 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo by T. Schneider via Shutterstock
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