Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• Rocket Lab's stock experienced a significant jump, opening at $64.15 after closing at $61.51, and last traded at $66.70 with over 10 million shares exchanged.
• Analysts have given Rocket Lab an average rating of "Moderate Buy," with a price target ranging from $50.00 to $55.00 by several brokerages.
• Insider sales were notable, with CEO Peter Beck and SVP Arjun Kampani selling a combined total of over 1.4 million shares, indicating potential changes in investor sentiment regarding the stock.

Shares of Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $61.51, but opened at $64.15. Rocket Lab shares last traded at $66.70, with a volume of 10,019,582 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on RKLB. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.27.

Rocket Lab Stock Up 5.9%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.76 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $144.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 45.87% and a negative return on equity of 48.14%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Rocket Lab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 9,416 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total transaction of $449,143.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 489,629 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,355,303.30. This trade represents a 1.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total value of $70,026,547.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,500,000 shares in the company, valued at $121,875,000. The trade was a 36.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,406,361 shares of company stock valued at $267,483,973 over the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rocket Lab

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RKLB. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth about $192,918,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth about $164,751,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 10.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,029,546 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $715,728,000 after acquiring an additional 3,833,969 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 67.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,242,304 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $223,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,504,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marex Group plc bought a new position in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth about $74,359,000. 71.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

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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