Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Up 9.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Rocket Lab's stock price increased by 9.8% during trading, closing at $48.75, with a significant volume drop compared to the average daily trading volume.
• Analysts have generally shown optimism, with several firms raising their target prices to between $50.00 and $55.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Despite a revenue increase of 35.9% year-over-year, Rocket Lab reported a negative EPS of ($0.13), which was below expectations, highlighting ongoing profitability challenges.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 9.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $49.59 and last traded at $48.75. Approximately 14,981,870 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 19,887,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Rocket Lab from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Rocket Lab from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.27.

Rocket Lab Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a PE ratio of -106.97 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.33.

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

Insider Activity at Rocket Lab

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 820,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $21,328,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,083,053 shares in the company, valued at $28,170,208.53. This represents a 43.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Arjun Kampani sold 5,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $155,820.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 530,230 shares in the company, valued at $15,906,900. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,130,995 shares of company stock valued at $29,686,039 over the last ninety days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,833,969 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 67.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,242,304 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $223,287,000 after buying an additional 2,504,054 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter worth $192,918,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rocket Lab in the 2nd quarter valued at $164,751,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Rocket Lab by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,227,617 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $82,207,000 after acquiring an additional 281,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company's stock.

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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