Piper Sandler began coverage on Redwire and York Space Systems with a cautious stance, highlighting issues on competition and growth prospects.

  • Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Redwire with a ‘Neutral’ rating and an $11 price target, according to The Fly.
  • The brokerage wants more evidence that Redwire’s products can compete successfully before turning bullish.
  • Piper assigned York Space Systems a ‘Neutral’ rating and a $9 price target.

Redwire (RDW) and York Space Systems (YSS) were in the spotlight on Thursday as Piper Sandler began coverage of the stocks with a cautious stance, flagging concerns about competitive pressure and growth prospects across the space and defense industries.

RDW shares were down 3.4% at the time of writing in pre-market trading. The stock has been on a slide lately, tracking its seventh straight session of losses.

YSS stock was down 0.3% but is on track for an even bigger losing streak, tracking its ninth straight session in the red. YSS is also trading at an all-time low and tracking losses for a sixth straight month.

Piper Sees Challenges For RDW Across Space, Defense Markets

Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Redwire with a ‘Neutral’ rating and an $11 price target, according to The Fly. Despite the neutral stance, the target still represents a 32% upside from current levels.

The brokerage said while Redwire’s business across space technology and defense systems “is interesting, it’s not abundantly clear” if Redwire has sufficient foothold in either market to deliver exceptional results.

Piper said it wants to analyse the competitiveness of the company’s portfolio across the broader market before recommending the shares. The brokerage wants more evidence that Redwire’s products can compete successfully before turning bullish.

Redwire, which manufactures products including optics systems, sensors and uncrewed aerial systems solutions and components for space and national security customers, had a contracted backlog of about $542 million at the end of June, including $322 million from space operations and $220 million from defense technology.

Last month, Redwire was one of 15 companies selected for a U.S. Space Force contract vehicle valued at more than $980 million. The amount represents the ceiling for the overall multi-vendor contract and the company said its selection does not guarantee any revenue.

Piper Flags Uncertainty Around York’s Future Growth

Piper assigned York Space Systems a ‘Neutral’ rating and a $9 price target, representing a 51% upside from current levels. The firm said its biggest concern for York is future growth following funding changes to the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer program.

The program involves building a network of military communications satellites to be used on the battlefield. Funding has shifted toward the Space Data Network Backbone, a new military satellite communications initiative. Although York was selected for the program in August, Piper believes the revised process could bring tougher competition. York must contend with much larger players, including SpaceX (SPCX) and Lockheed Martin (LMT).

The company’s backlog at the end of June was $592 million, down from $642.3 million at the end of March. The company also recently lowered its 2026 revenue guidance.

Retail Sentiment Drops For YSS, RDW

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits surrounding both tickers fell over the past 24 hours. RDW has a ‘bearish’ sentiment on the platform, while YSS’ sentiment turned ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish.’

One user sees a buying opportunity in RDW below $8.5.

View this Stocktwits post

RDW shares are down about 5% so far this year, while YSS has crashed more than 82%.

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