Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading 2.8% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Rocket Lab's stock rose by 2.8% to $44.20, despite a significant decline in trading volume by 53% compared to the average session.
• Analysts have upgraded Rocket Lab's stock ratings, with Bank of America raising the price target from $30 to $50, indicating strong positive sentiment around the company's future prospects.
• In its latest earnings report, Rocket Lab reported a revenue increase of 35.9% year-over-year, although it missed EPS expectations, signaling ongoing growth challenges.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) traded up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $45.69 and last traded at $44.20. 9,298,156 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 19,928,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $30.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $35.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab from $25.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.27.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -94.86 and a beta of 2.17. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $38.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.12.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.13) EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Ocko sold 820,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total value of $21,328,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,083,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,170,208.53. The trade was a 43.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Merline Saintil sold 6,353 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.41, for a total transaction of $186,841.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 425,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,526,366.02. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,130,995 shares of company stock worth $29,686,039. 11.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rocket Lab

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab in the 2nd quarter worth about $340,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Rocket Lab by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 38,480 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Soviero Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,753,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,384,000. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp bought a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,585,000. 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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