Space Earnings Week: 1 Blowout Beat, 2 Ugly Misses and a Lot of Optimism

Five space stocks reported this week, and the market handed out one standing ovation, two beatdowns and a couple of “we’ll take the good news” verdicts.

• LUNR stock is moving after earnings. See the real-time price action here. 

Firefly Aerospace – FLY 

Firefly Aerospace (FLY) stole the show with its Q2 report released Tuesday evening. The company reported second-quarter revenue of $117.68 million, beating analyst estimates of $88.20 million, with total revenue up 659% year-over-year and 45.5% sequentially. 

Firefly posted a second-quarter adjusted loss of 42 cents per share, beating estimates for a loss of 52 cents per share. The company continues to expect full-year 2026 revenue of $420 million to $450 million, versus estimates of $440.35 million. 

The stock climbed after the print as investors digested Firefly’s strong quarter. 

Rocket Lab – RKLB 

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) delivered a genuinely mixed quarter. Revenue came in at $234.07 million, beating the consensus estimate of $231.35 million and up 62% year-over-year. The company signed $437 million in new Electron, HASTE and Neutron launch contracts and ended the period with a record backlog of $2.36 billion and roughly $2.13 billion in cash. 

But Rocket Lab reported a second-quarter loss of eight cents per share, missing estimates for a loss of seven cents per share. Guidance was strong regardless — Rocket Lab guided for third-quarter revenue of $250 million to $265 million versus estimates of $238.53 million, alongside an anticipated adjusted EBITDA loss of $17 million to $23 million. 

AST SpaceMobile – ASTS 

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) missed on both lines. Revenue of $31.52 million fell short of the $34.98 million estimate, and the company posted a loss of 77 cents per share versus an estimated 28-cent loss. 

Backlog grew to approximately $1.3 billion, and AST reaffirmed its fiscal-year revenue outlook of $150 million to $200 million against a $168.88 million estimate. Shares fell about 2% in extended trading following the print. 

Intuitive Machines – LUNR 

Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ:LUNR) posted the widest miss of the week. Quarterly losses of 29 cents per share missed the analyst consensus estimate of a seven-cent loss, while quarterly sales of $206.17 million missed the $220.76 million estimate — even as revenue rose 309.77% over last year’s $50.313 million. 

The company affirmed its fiscal 2026 sales outlook of $900 million to $1 billion versus a $934.01 million estimate. LUNR shares fell as much as 14% following the print, but staged a mild recovery after Thursday’s opening bell. 

Virgin Galactic – SPCE

Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) rounded out the week with a headline-grabbing slide. Quarterly losses of 50 cents per share beat the analyst consensus estimate of a 66-cent loss, and revenue of $134,000 beat the Street estimate of $127,000 — though down from $406,000 a year earlier. 

The bigger blow: first commercial spaceflight was pushed to February 2027 from the previously expected fourth quarter of 2026. Shares dove 14.55% in Wednesday’s extended trading, recovering some of the losses on Thursday.

The Takeaway 

Growing backlogs and bullish guidance are still buying these space names patience — except when a delay or a lopsided miss cracks the growth story entirely.

Photo courtesy of Rocket Lab Corp.