Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Shares Down 9.6% After Earnings Miss

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB - Get Free Report) was down 9.6% during trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $20.23 and last traded at $20.88. Approximately 15,197,459 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the average daily volume of 15,541,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.10.

The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.02). Rocket Lab USA had a negative net margin of 51.76% and a negative return on equity of 39.47%. The business had revenue of $122.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RKLB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a research report on Friday, April 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen raised shares of Rocket Lab USA to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Rocket Lab USA from $12.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Five 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rocket Lab USA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rocket Lab USA news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,553 shares of Rocket Lab USA stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total transaction of $809,973.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,419,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,806,128.22. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rocket Lab USA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 10.6% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,285,693 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $211,084,000 after buying an additional 32,658 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Rocket Lab USA by 30,853.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,696,136 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $94,141,000 after buying an additional 3,684,195 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Rocket Lab USA by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,227,617 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock valued at $82,207,000 after buying an additional 281,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rocket Lab USA by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,902,212 shares of the rocket manufacturer's stock worth $73,919,000 after acquiring an additional 23,855 shares during the last quarter. 71.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of -55.57 and a beta of 2.04.

About Rocket Lab USA

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.