Baird R W Upgrades Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Baird R W upgraded Rocket Lab to a "strong-buy" rating, reflecting increasing confidence from analysts about the company's potential growth.
• Rocket Lab's average target price is currently around $49.67, with a mix of ratings from analysts; two analysts are at Strong Buy, while one has issued a Sell rating.
• Despite a substantial market cap of $32.43 billion, the company posted a loss of ($0.13) per share in its latest earnings report, missing analyst expectations.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Baird R W to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on RKLB. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.67.

Rocket Lab Stock Down 3.3%

RKLB opened at $67.00 on Thursday. Rocket Lab has a fifty-two week low of $10.29 and a fifty-two week high of $73.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $32.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -148.89 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $50.25 and a 200-day moving average of $36.95.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by ($0.06). Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 48.14% and a negative net margin of 45.87%.The firm had revenue of $144.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rocket Lab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Rocket Lab will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 31,185 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.97, for a total transaction of $1,527,129.45. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 499,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,438,233.65. The trade was a 5.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total value of $70,026,547.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,500,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,875,000. This trade represents a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973. Corporate insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RKLB. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 3,319.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,900 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 19,318 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 181.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,903 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 6.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,022 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,715 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 52.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 58,652 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 20,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the first quarter worth about $192,000. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA, Inc, a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets.

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