Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Stock Price Up 3.8% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Rocket Lab shares rose 3.8% to $41.90 on Tuesday (intraday high $42.99) with 13,047,802 shares traded, about 37% below its average session volume.
• Analysts hold a Moderate Buy consensus with a $58.17 average target; notable upgrades include Stifel raising its target to $75 and Cantor Fitzgerald to $54.
• Q3 results beat estimates (EPS -$0.03 vs. -$0.05) and revenue was $155.1M, up 48% YoY, but the company remains unprofitable with negative margins and insiders sold roughly 5.57M shares (~$274M) in the past three months.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) shares shot up 3.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.99 and last traded at $41.90. 13,047,802 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 20,564,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on RKLB shares. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Rocket Lab from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rocket Lab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.17.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.18 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -110.26 and a beta of 2.20. The business's fifty day moving average price is $54.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.54.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $155.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.45 million. Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 27.26% and a negative net margin of 35.64%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 48.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.10) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 46,994 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.86, for a total transaction of $1,920,174.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,995,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,530,940.78. The trade was a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Arjun Kampani sold 10,554 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.08, for a total transaction of $444,112.32. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 450,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,955,356.80. This trade represents a 2.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,573,532 shares of company stock worth $274,301,358. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RKLB. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,432 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 1.9% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,352 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 22.1% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Rocket Lab by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 3,725 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Rocket Lab by 6.0% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,478 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.78% of the company's stock.

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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