It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for Redwire Corp. (RDW) investors on Wednesday. The space technology company's stock took a 7.89% dive in after-hours trading, landing at $7.88, after it released fourth-quarter results that presented a classic mixed bag.

Let's start with the bad news that likely spooked the market: the bottom line. Redwire reported a quarterly loss of 58 cents per share. That's not just a loss—it's a loss that missed Wall Street's consensus estimate by a wide margin. Analysts, using market data, were expecting a loss of 19 cents per share. So, the company's net loss was more than three times larger than anticipated. That's the kind of miss that gets a stock moving in the wrong direction in a hurry.

Now, for the good news that complicates the story: the top line. Revenue for the quarter came in at $108.79 million. Not only did that beat the analyst estimate of $102.36 million, but it also represents a staggering 56.4% increase from the $69.56 million in revenue the company reported for the same quarter a year ago. So, they're selling a lot more stuff, but apparently at a cost that's eating deeply into profits for now.

The company's report was packed with highlights from its 2025 fiscal year, painting a picture of a firm in growth mode. Full-year revenue hit $335.4 million, up 10.3% year-over-year. Perhaps more importantly for future revenue, the company's book-to-bill ratio—a key indicator of demand—showed a "meaningful" increase. It finished the full year at 1.32 and the fourth quarter at an even stronger 1.52. A ratio above 1.0 means the company is booking more new orders than it's billing, suggesting a healthy pipeline. They also ended the year with total liquidity of $130.2 million, more than double the amount they had at the end of 2024.

On the operational side, Redwire is busy in orbit. The company launched 14 of its PIL-BOX payloads to the International Space Station to study 18 different molecules and, as of the end of December, had 11 active payload facilities on the ISS.

CEO Peter Cannito put a strategic spin on the year's results. "2025 marked the transformation of Redwire into an integrated, multi-domain space and defense tech company," he stated. "This evolution is reflected in our new structure, which we believe will enable us to maintain strong positioning and continue our growth trajectory across both established and rapidly emerging domains."

Looking forward, the company is betting that its growth story continues. Redwire provided an outlook for full-year revenue in the range of $450 million to $500 million. If achieved, that would represent another significant jump from 2025's results.

So, where does that leave investors? With a classic growth-company conundrum. The revenue engine is firing, and future orders look strong. But the path to profitability appears rockier and further away than the market hoped. The after-hours sell-off suggests that, for now, the wider loss is outweighing the revenue beat in investors' minds. The company's challenge will be to prove it can convert its impressive top-line growth into a healthier bottom line.