Why Redwire Stock Rocketed 24% Higher in August

Redwire (NYSE: RDW) stock was hardly in the red in the last full month of 2026's summer. In fact, it posted a solid, double-digit gain of 24% across August, helped in no small part by second-quarter earnings that easily topped analyst expectations. The company also continued to secure new contracts, including one with a very prominent name in the space industry.

Soaring sales

Redwire published its earnings release near the start of the month, setting the tone for the remainder of August.

Image source: Getty Images.

The company's revenue zoomed almost 90% higher year over year to slightly over $117 million. Not surprisingly, given that kind of improvement, that figure set a new Redwire record. Also notching an all-time high was its project backlog, which was 32% higher than the end-2025 level, at over $542 million.

None of this made the still-relatively young company profitable, however. Its net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) came in at nearly $41 million, which, on the bright side, was significantly narrower than the nearly $97 million deficit in the same quarter of last year. On a non-GAAP (adjusted), per-share basis, the loss slimmed to $0.09 from $0.31.

Both headline results convincingly topped the consensus analyst estimates. On average, the pundits tracking Redwire stock were estimating total revenue just shy of $108 million. They believed the company would post a much steeper adjusted net loss of $0.16 per share.

Much of the year-over-year improvements in the fundamentals came from increases in good, old-fashioned project work.

The quarter saw the company sign contracts to supply its Penguin drones to clients such as an unnamed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country and the Asian island nation of Taiwan, and complete on-orbit operations for drug development activities for prominent pharmaceutical and biotech companies, among other projects.

Double-digit growth to continue?

With those tailwinds at its back, Redwire was confident enough to maintain its full-year revenue guidance of $450 million to $500 million. This would mean at least 34% growth over the 2025 result.

Looking at the company's announcements in its current (third) quarter alone, this seems eminently achievable. For example, just after earnings, it revealed that its Space Microgravity Development (SpaceMD) unit had signed a collaboration agreement with Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX.

The Elon Musk-led company sold its payload space on a mission of Starfall, the large payload capsule it's currently developing. SpaceMD will then resell the space to drug discovery clients.

The future for this company is exciting, although I'll feel much more confident when and if it consistently posts net profits. I'd say it is a speculative stock at the moment, suitable for investors with a healthy appetite for risk, that has considerable upside potential.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.