Firefly Aerospace stock surged at IPO but dropped 11% amid volatility; strong backlog and NASA contracts support growth.

After several big IPOs including Figma last week, the IPO market stayed hot with Firefly Aerospace, which is now approaching a $10 billion valuation out of the gate. I would categorize space as one of the hot sectors, along with artificial intelligence, crypto, and quantum computing, that investors can't seem to get enough of.

Firefly also boosted the size of the IPO. It will raise nearly $870 million from the stock sale. It is selling 19.3 million shares, up from an original proposal of 16.2 million shares. The stock will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FLY.