Monday 10 February 2025 7:49 am  |  Updated:  Monday 10 February 2025 1:53 pm

Filtronic shares soar as defence firm pens fresh deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX

By: Jack Mendel

British defence and telecoms firm Filtronic has penned a further multi-million-pound deal with SpaceX, the aerospace behemoth owned by Elon Musk.

The company won a contract with SpaceX, worth almost £17m for the financial years 2025 and 2026, according to the firm, which made the announcement to markets this morning.

Filtronic, which designs and makes products for the aerospace, defence and telecoms market, said after the contract that it is “now confident the business will exceed current market expectations for revenue and profit in both FY2025 and FY2026”.

Following the new deal, its shares boomed by 11.92 per cent.

Last week, the company announced stellar results with revenue of £25.6m for the first half of the financial year for 2025, up from £8.5m.

Its earnings were at £8.7m, up from just £0.2m, while it wiped out a loss of £0.4m to make £6.8m in operating profit.

It attributed the strong figures to orders from SpaceX, with today’s contract win a deepening of the relationship.

Filtronic and SpaceX signed initial deals in August and July 2024, worth £6.4m and £7.1m, respectively, including for technology “to support the ongoing deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink”.

Nat Edington, chief executive officer, said: “We are delighted to have secured this substantial order, which underscores Filtronic’s reputation for delivering high-performance RF solutions to our market leading customer. “

“This contract, alongside our growing momentum in strategic markets, provides us with increased confidence in our ability to exceed our growth targets for FY2025 and FY2026”.

The firm, which is FTSE AIM All-Share index listed, has seen its share price boom recently. It’s up 38.81 per cent in the last six months and 152.91 per cent in the last year.

“Filtronic is making quite a name for itself”

This comes after SpaceX’s boss, Elon Musk, was thrust further into the limelight following the bombshell re-election of Donald Trump, as US president.

Musk was made Trump’s head of the Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE), while he continues to court controversy for his antics on Twitter, which he owns and renamed X.

The tech billionaire has been criticised for his endorsement of far-right parties and individuals.

Tesla‘s brand value plummeted in 2024, according to research from the consulting firm Brand Finance. The US EV maker’s brand value dropped 26 per cent last year to $43bn (£35bn), the second straight year it has fallen, with many analysts pointing towards Musk’s erratic behaviour and controversial views.

In December, Downing Street insisted Sir Keir Starmer was running an “unashamedly” pro-growth government after Elon Musk lashed out at his policies. Musk claimed “very few companies” would be willing to put money into the UK under “the current administration”.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Filtronic is making quite a name for itself as a way to play the space race. Winning another contract with Elon Musk’s SpaceX has put a new rocket under the share price. The shares have now increased by 750% in value over the past three years, proving that the AIM market is not entirely dead. 

“Whereas many companies on AIM are all about jam tomorrow, Filtronic is actually making money today. 

“It’s rare to see a company say it will exceed market expectations for both the current and next financial year, but the latest deal with SpaceX has gifted Filtronic with that magic status.”