Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading Down 2.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Rocket Lab Corporation shares fell by 2.7%, trading at approximately $46.85, with a notable decrease in trading volume—down 75% from the average.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Rocket Lab, with seven buy ratings and a consensus target price of $34.10, reflecting moderate optimism among market analysts.
• The company reported a negative earnings per share of ($0.12) for its last quarter, missing estimates, but showed a revenue increase of 32.1% compared to the previous year.
• Insider activity includes notable stock sales, with insiders shedding a total of over 1.1 million shares in the last quarter, indicating potential concerns among high-level executives.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $46.45 and last traded at $46.85. 4,984,120 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 20,117,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RKLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Capital raised their target price on Rocket Lab from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $29.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Rocket Lab from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.10.

Rocket Lab Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $33.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.53. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.58 and a beta of 2.15.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $122.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.74 million. Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 44.32% and a negative return on equity of 48.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In other Rocket Lab news, insider Arjun Kampani sold 28,988 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.66, for a total transaction of $772,820.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 540,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,412,875.88. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Merline Saintil sold 6,353 shares of Rocket Lab stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.41, for a total value of $186,841.73. Following the sale, the director directly owned 425,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,526,366.02. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,130,995 shares of company stock valued at $29,686,039. 13.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RKLB. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Rocket Lab by 1.9% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,352 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,888 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Rocket Lab by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 35,085 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Rocket Lab by 7.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,491 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. 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.