Redwire Corporation (RDW) Stock Price & How to Invest
Short answer
Redwire (RDW) is a small-cap space infrastructure and defense-technology company that has pivoted into a faster-growing, drone-heavy story after its 2025 Edge Autonomy acquisition, so investing in it means underwriting a still-unprofitable, backlog-driven growth bet on space systems and uncrewed defense hardware. It is a volatile, high-beta name whose valuation already prices in years of continued execution.
RDW stock price
As of 2026-07-08, Redwire Corporation (RDW) last closed at $10.58, down 33.0% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $5.06 and $25.90.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Redwire Corporation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Redwire Corporation (RDW) do?
Redwire Corporation designs and builds space infrastructure and, since mid-2025, uncrewed defense systems. Its Space segment supplies spacecraft platforms, solar arrays, power and avionics, sensors, digital engineering, and in-space manufacturing and biotech payloads for civil, commercial, and national-security customers, while its Defense Tech segment (built around the ~$925 million June 2025 acquisition of Edge Autonomy) produces field-proven uncrewed aerial systems and related electro-optical payloads. The company is positioned at the intersection of two well-funded end markets, government space programs and defense drones, and sells largely into agencies like NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, DARPA, and allied governments.
The investment picture is one of accelerating top-line growth paired with continued losses and a demanding valuation. Q1 2026 revenue rose about 58% year over year and contract backlog hit a record, helped by strong bookings and the Edge Autonomy contribution, and full-year 2026 guidance implies roughly 40%-plus growth. At the same time the company remains unprofitable on a net basis, dilution has been meaningful, and the stock has swung violently (a wide 52-week range), so the key questions are whether gross-margin gains hold, whether the drone and space backlog converts to profitable revenue, and whether results can justify a market value that already reflects heavy optimism.
What's driving Redwire Corporation (RDW)?
1. Edge Autonomy and the defense-drone pivot
The mid-2025 acquisition of Edge Autonomy added a Defense Tech segment that generated about $44 million of revenue in Q1 2026, nearly matching the Space segment. It reframes Redwire from a pure space-infrastructure name into a combined space-and-uncrewed-systems supplier aimed at rising U.S. and allied defense budgets. Integration execution and cross-selling between the two segments are central to the growth thesis.
2. Record backlog and book-to-bill above 1
Redwire ended Q1 2026 with contracted backlog of about $498 million, up sharply year over year, split between space and defense work. Bookings drove a book-to-bill ratio near 1.9 for the quarter, signaling demand outpacing revenue recognition. Backlog conversion into recognized, profitable revenue is what would validate the current growth trajectory.
3. Margin improvement and a path toward profitability
Gross margin expanded to roughly 27% in Q1 2026 from the mid-teens a year earlier, a large swing that management ties to program mix and operational improvements. Sustained margin gains would move the company toward positive adjusted EBITDA and eventual free-cash-flow generation. The company continues to guide to strong full-year 2026 revenue growth.
4. Exposure to government space and national-security spending
Redwire supplies programs across civil space, commercial LEO and VLEO efforts, and defense, including a DARPA prime role on a very-low-Earth-orbit spacecraft. This gives it multiple shots at multi-year government contracts, though it also ties revenue timing to appropriations cycles and procurement decisions that can slip.
What are the risks to Redwire Corporation (RDW)?
Redwire is not yet profitable, reporting a large net loss in fiscal 2025 and a roughly $77 million net loss in Q1 2026, and share issuance has diluted existing holders. The stock is highly volatile and its valuation already embeds years of continued rapid growth, so any guidance miss, contract slip, or margin reversal could trigger sharp drawdowns. Integrating Edge Autonomy adds execution and balance-sheet risk, and revenue is concentrated in government programs exposed to budget and appropriations timing. The company also carries a history of shareholder litigation tied to 2021-2022 financial-reporting and internal-controls allegations (a derivative matter reaching a preliminary settlement in 2026), and it has drawn published short-seller criticism, both of which add reputational and sentiment risk.
How is Redwire Corporation (RDW) valued? (approximate, JULY 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Redwire Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$371M
- FY2025 revenue: ~$335M (+10% YoY)
- Q1 2026 revenue: ~$97M (+58% YoY)
- FY2026 revenue guidance: ~$450M to $500M
- Contract backlog: ~$498M
- Market cap: ~$2.0B
As of July 2026 RDW traded around $10 with a market value near $2 billion and roughly 239 million shares outstanding, against trailing revenue near $371 million (a price-to-sales multiple in the mid-single digits on a fast-growing but unprofitable base). The company reported record Q1 2026 backlog and reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance implying roughly 40%-plus growth, while still posting net losses. Figures are approximate and change with each quarterly report.
Who competes with Redwire Corporation (RDW)?
Space infrastructure and systems peers
Smaller public space companies such as Rocket Lab, Voyager Technologies, and Sidus Space compete for spacecraft, components, sensors, and space-infrastructure work, though most differ in focus (Rocket Lab, for instance, centers on launch and end-to-end missions rather than Redwire's parts-and-platforms model).
Defense and uncrewed-systems makers
With Edge Autonomy, Redwire now competes in drones and uncrewed aerial systems against names like AeroVironment and Kratos Defense, which build tactical drones, unmanned aircraft, and related defense electronics for U.S. and allied militaries.
Large prime contractors
Diversified defense and aerospace primes such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing bid on many of the same government space and defense programs, bringing far larger balance sheets and incumbency that can crowd out or partner with smaller suppliers like Redwire.
How to invest in Redwire Corporation (RDW)
There are three common ways to get RDW exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so RDW sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where RDW fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Redwire Corporation (RDW)
RDW is a rapidly growing but still money-losing space and defense player where the appeal is backlog and momentum, and the debate is whether execution can catch up to expectations.
More on Redwire Corporation (RDW)
Whether RDW is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is RDW a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the RDW stock forecast.
For income investors, whether RDW pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does RDW pay a dividend?
Build a basket around RDW with Walnut
Use Redwire Corporation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Redwire (RDW) do?
+
Redwire builds space infrastructure such as spacecraft platforms, solar arrays, sensors, avionics, and in-space manufacturing payloads, and, since acquiring Edge Autonomy in 2025, it also makes uncrewed aerial systems and payloads for defense customers. It sells mainly to government agencies including NASA, the Department of Defense, and allied militaries.
Is Redwire profitable?
+
No. As of mid-2026 Redwire is still unprofitable on a net basis, reporting a large net loss for fiscal 2025 and about a $77 million net loss in Q1 2026. Gross margins have improved and management points toward a path to profitability, but the company has not yet turned a net profit.
Why has RDW stock been so volatile?
+
RDW is a small-cap, high-beta space and defense name whose price reflects sentiment about growth, contracts, and the Edge Autonomy deal more than current earnings. Its 52-week range has been very wide, from under $5 to over $26, so it can move sharply on guidance, bookings, or broader space-sector momentum.
What was the Edge Autonomy acquisition?
+
In June 2025 Redwire closed its roughly $925 million acquisition of Edge Autonomy, a maker of field-proven uncrewed aerial systems. The deal created Redwire's Defense Tech segment, which generated about $44 million of revenue in Q1 2026 and reoriented the company toward defense drones alongside its space business.
How fast is Redwire growing?
+
Growth has accelerated. Q1 2026 revenue rose about 58% year over year to roughly $97 million, helped by Edge Autonomy, and the company reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance of about $450 million to $500 million, which would represent roughly 40%-plus growth over 2025's approximately $335 million.
What is Redwire's backlog?
+
Redwire reported record contracted backlog of about $498 million at the end of Q1 2026, up sharply year over year and split between its space and defense segments. Quarterly bookings drove a book-to-bill ratio near 1.9, meaning new orders outpaced revenue recognized in the period.
Who are Redwire's main competitors?
+
In space it competes with companies like Rocket Lab, Voyager Technologies, and Sidus Space; in defense drones it now overlaps with AeroVironment and Kratos Defense. It also bids against large primes such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing on government space and defense programs.
What are the biggest risks with RDW?
+
Key risks include continued net losses and shareholder dilution, a valuation that already prices in rapid growth, integration and balance-sheet risk from the Edge Autonomy deal, dependence on government budgets and contract timing, and a history of shareholder litigation tied to 2021-2022 reporting issues. Walnut is not an investment adviser, so treat this as descriptive information, not a recommendation.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Redwire Corporation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.