Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) Trading 7% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Rocket Lab's stock surged by 7%, trading at $56.16 after a previous close of $52.47, with trading volume reaching 37.5 million shares, an 82% increase from average volumes.
• Analysts have mixed ratings, with one Strong Buy, seven Buy, four Hold, and one Sell, resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.27.
• Recent insider selling included significant transactions by CFO Adam C. Spice and CEO Peter Beck, reducing their stake in the company substantially, with a total of 5.4 million shares sold by insiders over the last 90 days.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $56.94 and last traded at $56.16. 37,532,938 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 82% from the average session volume of 20,606,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RKLB. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Rocket Lab in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Rocket Lab from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "hold" rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.27.

Rocket Lab Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -124.80 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.09.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) last announced 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). Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 45.87% and a negative return on equity of 48.14%. The firm had revenue of $144.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Rocket Lab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab

In other news, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 874,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.01, for a total transaction of $41,988,969.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,057,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $98,799,250.89. This represents a 29.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Beck sold 1,436,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total transaction of $70,026,547.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,500,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $121,875,000. This represents 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 90 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. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Rocket Lab by 109.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 796 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth $36,000. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rocket Lab during the second quarter worth $37,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Rocket Lab by 491.9% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 3,250.0% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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