Beyond SpaceX — Firefly Is the Space Stock You Can Actually Buy Today

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is going to make history this year as it looks to touch down with a blistering-hot IPO that might match the heat of its rocket fuel. Of course, the price of admission into what could be a $2 trillion titan could have the potential to be off the charts.

And for that reason, I wouldn’t get my hopes up on the opening day unless, of course, you’re willing to punch your ticket at any price. Even if IPOs tend to boom and bust in the first few weeks of landing on the public markets, I’m sure many investors are looking back to previous big-tech IPOs, wishing they’d bought on opening day, even if it meant considerable pain over the short-term.

Will SpaceX’s first few weeks of volatile trading action prove nothing more than blips that are no longer even visible on a chart in 10 years from now? It’s hard to say. I guess it comes down to just how willing investors are to pay up for the space icon and whether or not Elon Musk can execute on the incredible growth drivers underneath the hood.

SpaceX is coming. The IPO’s landing will impact the rest of the space scene

History seems to suggest that, giving Elon Musk the benefit of the doubt, even when it comes to the most ambitious, even outlandish, projects, you can expect quite the Musk premium to be attached on opening day. Either way, I think it makes sense to consider what else is out there in the space scene.

While no rival comes even close to matching SpaceX in size and visionary leadership, I do think that there might be an opportunity to get a better price, especially if space investors look to get in on the SpaceX IPO. They’re going to need to raise capital elsewhere, after all!

For those who don’t want to wait for a space, play as SpaceX puts the corner of the market into focus; there are many publicly traded names today that might be worth owning. Of course, SpaceX’s coming IPO could be a huge source of unpredictability. I suppose there’s also a scenario where SpaceX powers the broad basket of space plays to march higher as some investors look to consider alternatives.

Any way you look at it, though, the business of space is as real as ever, and as SpaceX shows, it has the potential to be incredibly profitable. Most junior space plays might not have much room for error, especially given their relatively limited resources compared to Elon Musk’s space titan.

Firefly Aerospace is buyable today, but the risk/reward is drastically different

That said, a name like Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY | FLY Price Prediction) does look quite interesting for investors looking for mid-cap exposure with a higher growth runway. Firefly stock came rocketing out of the gate after its latest quarterly earnings report, at least until much of the gains were given back as investors had a chance to digest the road ahead.

No surprises here, Firefly is poised to spend quite. And while the impressive revenue beat and decent guidance certainly deserve applause, it’s clear that a giant question mark surrounds the state of profitability. If you’re betting on a $5.5 billion rocket company with sky-high ambitions, profitability and margins probably shouldn’t be the main topic of discussion, at least in my view. For investors looking for better margins, perhaps SpaceX could be the play.

With B. Riley Securities analyst Mike Crawford touting Firefly Aerospace as a buy following its soft Moon landing (a tough task for a firm of Firefly’s size, by the way), I do think that the latest dip in the shares could be more of an opportunity for space investors willing to take a risk. Of course, given the big ROIs might be years off, the name won’t be for everyone.

Either way, I think Crawford’s $60 price target makes for a rather interesting high-risk/high-reward kind of play.