Space Earnings Week: 1 Blowout Beat, 2 Ugly Misses and a Lot of Optimism
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Space stocks reported mixed Q2 earnings. Firefly Aerospace (FLY) beat revenue and loss estimates, driving stock gains. Rocket Lab (RKLB) topped revenue but missed on EPS, though guidance remained strong. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and Intuitive Machines (LUNR) missed both revenue and profit targets, causing share declines. Virgin Galactic (SPCE) beat estimates but saw shares drop sharply after delaying its first commercial spaceflight to February 2027.
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.
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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.
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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.