Firefly Aerospace (FLY) CFO Darren Ma Exercises Options, Withholds Shares

What Happened

• Darren Ma, CFO of Firefly Aerospace (FLY), exercised stock options on 2026-09-17 to acquire 87,519 shares (54,286 at $0.42 and 33,233 at $0.49), paying roughly $39,192 in exercise price. Separately, the issuer withheld a total of 18,565 shares to cover the reporting person’s tax withholding obligations (256 shares on 2026-08-24 and 18,309 shares on 2026-09-16) for a reported value of about $377,221. The filings also show derivative conversion/termination entries related to the exercises.

Key Details

• Transaction dates and reported amounts:
  • 2026-08-24: 256 shares withheld for taxes @ $23.10 — $5,914 (disposition for tax withholding; footnote F1)
  • 2026-09-16: 18,309 shares withheld for taxes @ $20.28 — $371,307 (disposition for tax withholding; footnote F1)
  • 2026-09-17: Exercised/converted derivatives: acquired 54,286 shares @ $0.42 — $22,968; acquired 33,233 shares @ $0.49 — $16,224 (total acquired = 87,519 shares; total paid ≈ $39,192) (transaction code M)
  • 2026-09-17: Corresponding derivative disposition records for 54,286 and 33,233 shares at $0.00 (reflecting conversion/termination)
• Shares owned after transaction: Not specified in the provided data.
• Footnotes: F1 = shares withheld by issuer to cover tax withholding upon RSU vesting; F2 = the option shares were fully vested and exercisable as of the date.
• Filing timeliness: Form 4 filed 2026-09-18 for transactions occurring 2026-08-24 through 2026-09-17 — this appears to be a late filing relative to the standard 2-business-day Form 4 deadline.

Context

• This was an option exercise (insider paid exercise price to acquire shares). The subsequent withholding of 18,565 shares to cover tax obligations is a common administrative step (similar to a cashless/net settlement for taxes) and does not necessarily indicate a market sentiment decision.
• For retail investors: purchases/exercises can indicate insider participation but don’t by themselves reveal intent. Note the filing delay in your assessment — late filings reduce the real-time usefulness of the signal.