Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The space sector is changing almost at the speed of a high-powered rocket. Among the numerous developments in the business recently, one in particular could make quite a difference: Rocket Lab's (RKLB -6.00%) $8 billion deal for satellite telecom company Iridium Communications (IRDM -3.15%).

Rocket Lab is touting the acquisition as transformational. While there's some degree of the usual corporate hype behind that assertion, it's absolutely going to change the company. Here's why.

Calling on a new asset At the end of June, Rocket Lab and Iridium agreed that Rocket Lab would pay $54 per share for Iridium in a mix of cash and stock. The deal has an enterprise value of around $8 billion.

Image source: Getty Images.

In a joint press release, the two companies said that this is a synergistic combination of Rocket Lab's launch business and equipment manufacturing with Iridium's low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network and related assets.

Fusing will "create a competitive, vertically integrated space company that designs, builds, launches, and operates its own constellations, delivering critical communications capability to millions of users worldwide," the companies said.

The boards of directors of both have unanimously approved the acquisition. The purchase price breaks down into $27 per Iridium share and shares of Rocket Lab stock, calculated according to an exchange ratio yet to be determined.

The deal is subject to approval from both Iridium shareholders and the relevant regulatory authorities. It's expected to close in the middle of next year.

Comparisons with the big guy This deal is pricey, but it still looks like a smart, opportunistic move by Rocket Lab. It's getting a unique -- and, importantly, highly productive -- asset with Iridium's satellite network, which is the go-to for customers wanting/needing pole-to-pole telecom connectivity for a variety of use cases.

Even in the likely case that the two businesses take some time to integrate, Iridium is regularly profitable and significantly free cash flow (FCF) positive, with FCF hovering just below $300 million in 2025. So owning it will have an immediate and beneficial effect on Rocket Lab's fundamentals.

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Although Iridium and the Starlink service, now under the wing of Space Exploration Technologies, aka SpaceX, aren't exactly direct competitors, their businesses are close enough to inevitably draw comparisons. So, going forward, Rocket Lab will be regularly matched against its monster rival.

To me, SpaceX as a conglomerate is something of a mishmash, with artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development, a social media site, and Starlink sitting alongside the company's space operations. Meanwhile, with the Iridium deal, Rocket Lab is shaping up to be a tighter, yet still comprehensive, set of complementary assets.

One big caveat with Rocket Lab is its still-high valuations, as the market still clearly hasn't entirely gotten over its excitement about bulking up space companies. Personally, this would make me hesitant to buy the stock, as I feel it's overvalued for a company that still needs to prove it can become reliably profitable with its legacy business.

Investors with a more bullish view of the space sector's prospects who don't mind waiting a while for Rocket Lab and Iridium to properly integrate might feel differently. Those folks should definitely consider buying.

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 24th, 2026

Andra AP fonden trimmed its stake in Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB – Free Report) by 71.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,739 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock after selling 38,936 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Rocket Lab were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of RKLB. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Rocket Lab by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 17,851,446 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $1,245,317,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725,536 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Rocket Lab by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,420,192 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $3,308,033,000 after acquiring an additional 5,610,469 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Rocket Lab during the 4th quarter valued at about $341,036,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 818.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,190,132 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $104,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Rocket Lab by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 16,200,726 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,130,172,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,623 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Rocket Lab from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $96.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Rocket Lab from $73.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.18.

View Our Latest Analysis on RKLB

Insider Buying and Selling at Rocket Lab In other news, CEO Peter Beck sold 990,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.86, for a total transaction of $82,110,945.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,724,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,868,952.06. The trade was a 36.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Frank Klein sold 36,860 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.42, for a total value of $5,433,901.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,006,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,450,023.54. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,849,294 shares of company stock valued at $362,816,208. Company insiders own 8.40% of the company’s stock.

More Rocket Lab News Here are the key news stories impacting Rocket Lab this week:

Positive Sentiment: Rocket Lab won a $266 million firm-fixed-price U.S. Air Force / Space Force contract for 12 suborbital launches, with options for six more through 2028. Investors see this as validation of its HASTE/Electron launch capability and a meaningful boost to its defense backlog. Rocket Lab Wins $266 Million Suborbital Launch Contract Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators said the contract strengthens Rocket Lab’s long-term investment case by expanding its defense business and providing a concrete revenue catalyst. A $266 Million Reason to Buy Rocket Lab Stock Here Positive Sentiment: Coverage comparing Rocket Lab with Intuitive Machines highlighted growing space-sector investment, broader launch/spacecraft opportunities, and Rocket Lab’s expanding mission capabilities, which supports the bullish long-term narrative. RKLB vs. LUNR: Which Emerging Space Stock Is the Better Pick Today? Neutral Sentiment: Rocket Lab also announced it will report second-quarter 2026 results on August 10, giving investors a near-term event to watch for updates on revenue, margins, and guidance. Rocket Lab Announces Date of Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Neutral Sentiment: Some recent commentary focused on SpaceX and orbital debris risk, which reflects broader industry concerns but is not a direct company-specific catalyst for RKLB. Negative Sentiment: Despite the contract win, some articles note Rocket Lab has fallen sharply from recent highs, and valuation concerns remain after the stock’s large run-up earlier in the year. Rocket Lab Has Corrected Nearly 50%. Is It Still Too Expensive? Rocket Lab Stock Performance RKLB opened at $69.99 on Friday. Rocket Lab Corporation has a 52-week low of $37.57 and a 52-week high of $151.00. The company has a quick ratio of 4.02, a current ratio of 4.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $40.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -218.72 and a beta of 2.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.19.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). Rocket Lab had a negative net margin of 26.87% and a negative return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $200.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. Rocket Lab’s revenue was up 63.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rocket Lab (Free Report)

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that provides launch services, spacecraft, and space systems for commercial and government customers. The company’s primary launch vehicle is Electron, a small-lift orbital rocket designed to deploy small satellites and rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also develops and manufactures the Rutherford engine, noted for its electric-pump-fed design and additive-manufactured components, which powers Electron and supports the company’s propulsion capabilities.

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Key Takeaways Intuitive Machines secured a $148.3 million NASA award to expand its lunar logistics and mobility network.LUNR is strengthening lunar exploration through landers, communications and mission infrastructure.Rocket Lab is expanding its space platform through launch services, spacecraft and satellite technologies. Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB - Free Report) and Intuitive Machines, Inc. (LUNR - Free Report) are benefiting from expanding opportunities across the commercial space industry, supported by rising investments in space exploration, satellite infrastructure and lunar mission capabilities. As government agencies and commercial customers increase spending on next-generation space programs, both companies are expanding mission capabilities, spacecraft technologies and space services while supporting the future of orbital and lunar operations.

The space industry continues to gain momentum through growing investments in launch services, spacecraft systems, lunar exploration and space communications infrastructure. Increasing demand for scientific research, satellite deployment and deep-space missions is driving broader adoption of integrated space technologies. At the same time, expanding partnerships with government agencies and commercial customers are creating long-term growth opportunities for companies developing scalable launch platforms, spacecraft systems and lunar mission services.

Let’s compare the stocks’ fundamentals to determine which one is the better investment option at present.

The Case for RKLB StockRocket Lab provides launch services, spacecraft manufacturing and satellite technologies supporting commercial, civil and government space missions. The company develops launch vehicles, spacecraft platforms and mission systems while offering integrated services that span launch, spacecraft production and on-orbit operations. Its strategy focuses on expanding end-to-end space capabilities to support a broad range of orbital missions.

In June 2026, Rocket Lab announced an agreement to acquire Iridium for an enterprise value of nearly $8 billion. The transaction expands the company's satellite manufacturing, mission operations and constellation management capabilities while strengthening its vertically integrated space platform and enhancing its ability to support large-scale satellite programs and recurring space services.

The Case for LUNR StockIntuitive Machines develops lunar landers, space communications systems and mission services supporting commercial and government exploration programs. The company focuses on lunar transportation, surface operations and space infrastructure while expanding technologies that enable long-term exploration and scientific missions. Its integrated approach supports the growing demand for lunar access and space exploration services.

In June 2026, Intuitive Machines secured a $148.3 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services award to establish a lunar logistics and mobility network supporting future Moon missions. The award strengthens the company's role in NASA's long-term lunar exploration efforts, expands its lunar infrastructure capabilities and supports future commercial and government missions across the growing lunar economy.

How Does the Zacks Consensus Estimate Compare for RKLB & LUNR?The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Rocket Lab’s 2026 earnings per share (EPS) indicates a rise of 16.67% in the past 60 days. RKLB’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 30.91%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The consensus estimate for Intuitive Machines’ 2026 EPS calls for a jump of 17.31% in the past 60 days. LUNR’s long-term earnings growth rate is 38.75%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

RKLB & LUNR: Stock Price PerformanceOver the past month, shares of RKLB and LUNR have fallen 18.3% and 26.3%, respectively.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Valuation for RKLB & LUNRRKLB shares are trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales (P/S F12M) multiple of 36.55 compared with LUNR’s P/S F12M of 3.07, making Intuitive Machines shares more attractive from a valuation standpoint.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Summing UpBoth companies operate across the expanding commercial space industry. Rocket Lab focuses on launch services, spacecraft manufacturing and integrated space systems that support orbital missions from launch through on-orbit operations. Intuitive Machines specializes in lunar landers, space communications and mission infrastructure designed to enable long-term lunar exploration and surface operations.

Our choice at the moment is Intuitive Machines, supported by its more attractive valuation and slightly stronger earnings estimate trends compared to Rocket Lab.

Rocket Lab currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), while Intuitive Machines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Is the space industry burning up like a meteor entering the atmosphere, or is it experiencing some temporary turbulence? Rocket Lab (RKLB +1.00%) and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX -6.66%) have both tumbled in recent weeks. Shares of Rocket Lab opened the week of July 20 at around $68 per share, a far cry from the $151 price it reached back in late May.

While Rocket Lab has slipped in recent weeks, its shares have increased by more than 500% in the past five years. The company's market cap now exceeds $40 billion, more than four times its value at the beginning of 2025.

Let's have a look at the reasons behind the recent slide and what opportunities long-term investors may find beneath the noise.

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What's happening to Rocket Lab's stock? Several conditions are currently at play, leading to the precipitous fall. First, Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Iridium Communications for $8 billion. Part of the deal will be funded through bridge financing. There's also been a slew of insiders selling their positions to take some profit off the table.

Lastly, Rocket Lab is competing for investor dollars within the space sector. Many investors rotated into SpaceX in late June. The larger story is that most of these happenings are short- to intermediate-term disturbances and not an indication of a failing business whatsoever.

The financials are more optimistic While the drop in stock price is nerve-racking, a deeper look at Rocket Lab's financials tells a much more positive story. In the first quarter of 2026, Rocket Lab reported record quarterly revenue just north of $200 million, a 63.5% jump from the year prior.

The company's backlog also reached $2.2 billion, and 31 new launch contracts were signed in the quarter. Rocket Lab sold more launches in the first quarter of 2026 than it did all of last year.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

Rocket Lab is set to announce its second-quarter results in early August. The end-to-end space company issued guidance indicating that revenue will continue to increase, reaching a high of $240 million. As margins and demand grow, the sky is literally and metaphorically the limit for Rocket Lab.

The takeaway for investors Investors should continue to expect tremendous volatility in Rocket Lab and other space-related stocks, as the industry remains nascent. For buy-and-hold investors, the sell-off is an opportunity to purchase a promising company that's quickly scaling its revenue and capabilities. Patience and a multi-year time horizon are essential, however, as Rocket Lab prepares to enter a new-age space race.

The space industry, as a whole, is expected to grow by more than 9% year over year through 2030. By the next decade, the space industry could have a market size approaching $800 billion. The opportunity for innovative leaders like Rocket Lab is immense.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) rose 3.15% premarket after winning a $266 million firm-fixed-price contract from the US Department of War for suborbital launch services. The

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Rocket Lab's stock price jumped more than 3%  after the company secured a major contract from the U.S. government. RKLB climbed to $72.15, about 12% above its lowest level this month. The key question now is whether this rebound marks the start of a sustained rally or is simply another dead-cat bounce.

RKLB stock jumped after the SpaceX competitor won a $266 million contract by the Department of War. This contract is for its suborbital launch services of 12 vehicles with six optional ones.

The order will be implemented at its the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and will be completed by December 2028

Rocket Lab has emerged as one of the fastest-growing companies in the space industry. In its last financial results, the company said that its revenue jumped by 63% to $200 million as its revenue backlog soared by 20% to $2.2 billion.

The company is benefiting from its Electron orders, which have continued rising in the past few months. It is also positioning in the hypersonic space, with its Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE). This product will likely continue doing well as the US government continues to invest in hypersonic technology.

It is also seeing more orders of the Neutron platform, which is its medium-lift, reusable orbital rocket that will compete with SpaceX Falcon 9. It will be much bigger than Electron and will be reusable. It signed five new Neutron launches in the first quarter. 

Rocket Lab’s business is booming such that it received more orders in the first quarter of the year than it did in the whole of last year.

The next key catalyst for the RKLB stock will be released early next month. These earnings are expected to show that its business did well in the last quarter as its revenue soared. 

The average estimate is that its revenue rose by 59% to $230 million in the second quarter. For the year, analysts expect the revenue to come in at $918 million, up by 52% YoY. 

In addition to the organic growth, the company is also focusing on acquisitions. It acquired Mynaric, which provides laser optical communications, Motiv Space Systems, and most recently, it bought Iridium, its biggest buyout on record.

Analysts have a bullish outlook for the RKLB stock. The average estimate is that its stock will jump to $110, much higher than the current $71. Some of the most bullish analysts are from companies like Citizens, Craig Hallum, and Roth Capital.

READ MORE: Rocket Lab stock analysis: megaphone forms as experts remain optimistic

RKLB stock chart | Source: TradingView

The weekly chart shows that the RKLB stock has pulled back sharply in the past few weeks. It dropped from a high of $151 in May to the current $71. It remains above the 100-week Exponential Moving Average (EMA). 

The stock remains above the ascending trendline that connects the lowest swings in April, November, and July. It has always rebounded after hitting this support level.

It is also in the process of forming a harami candlestick pattern. Therefore, the stock will likely bounce back in the near term. If this happens, the next key level to watch will be the psychological level of $100.

Rocket Lab stock is building positive momentum. Why is RKLB stock trading higher? The award comes from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command and covers the launch of 12 suborbital launch vehicles, with an option for six additional launches. Work will be performed at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2028.

The contract was awarded through a competitive acquisition process, with three offers received. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test, and evaluation funds totaling $112 million are being obligated at the time of the award. The Space Systems Command at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity.

Rocket Lab Shares Edge HigherRKLB Price Action: At the time of publication, Rocket Lab shares are trading 2.31% higher at $70.72, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Image via Shutterstock

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Rocket Lab stock is surging. Why are RKLB shares rallying? Rocket Lab Awarded Suborbital Launch ContractRocket Lab has been awarded a $266 million firm-fixed-price completion contract for suborbital launch from the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command.

The contract covers the launch of 12 suborbital launch vehicles, with six optional additional launches. Work will be performed at the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2028.

The award was a competitive acquisition, with three offers received. Fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funds totaling $112 million are being obligated at the time of the award.

The Space Systems Command at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity.

RKLB Shares Rise After The CloseRKLB Price Action: Rocket Lab shares were up 5.89% in after-hours, trading at $73.19 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Rocket Lab.

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Posted by Defense World Staff on Jul 21st, 2026

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB – Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 796,181 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,323 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.14% of Rocket Lab worth $51,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rocket Lab by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Rocket Lab by 673.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 101,562 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 88,435 shares during the period. PeakShares LLC bought a new stake in Rocket Lab during the first quarter valued at about $64,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Rocket Lab by 90.2% during the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 8,634 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,094 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rocket Lab in the first quarter valued at about $477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Lab News Roundup Here are the key news stories impacting Rocket Lab this week:

Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles highlight that RKLB has been falling quickly, with traders and retail investors debating whether the stock is now oversold or still has further downside. Should You Buy Rocket Lab Stock Below $70? Neutral Sentiment: Despite the selloff, some retail investors remain bullish on Rocket Lab, arguing that a future catalyst could help the stock recover if execution improves. Reddit Still Believes in Rocket Lab Even as Shares Slide: Inside the Retail Sentiment Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Rocket Lab’s shares have declined more than the broader market in the latest session, underscoring the recent weak momentum in the name. Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors Neutral Sentiment: Coverage also points to Rocket Lab’s growing competition with SpaceX, with investors watching whether RKLB can establish itself as a stronger direct rival in the space launch market. Rocket Lab’s Latest Deal Puts It on a Collision Course With SpaceX Negative Sentiment: Sentiment in one piece suggested that SpaceX-related market enthusiasm may be fading, which is spilling over into Rocket Lab and weighing on the stock. SpaceX’s IPO Shine Fades, Taking ASTS And RKLB With It — But There Are 2 Surprise Winners This Month Insider Activity In related news, insider Frank Klein sold 44,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.57, for a total value of $6,328,682.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,043,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,821,266.79. This trade represents a 4.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Alexander R. Slusky sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.08, for a total transaction of $11,808,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 434,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,326,424. This trade represents a 18.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,849,294 shares of company stock worth $362,816,208. 8.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Rocket Lab Price Performance NASDAQ:RKLB opened at $65.74 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $106.94 and its 200 day moving average is $87.24. Rocket Lab Corporation has a 12 month low of $37.57 and a 12 month high of $151.00. The company has a market capitalization of $38.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -205.44 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a current ratio of 4.47, a quick ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). Rocket Lab had a negative return on equity of 11.72% and a negative net margin of 26.87%.The business had revenue of $200.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rocket Lab Corporation will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes RKLB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised Rocket Lab from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Rocket Lab in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Rocket Lab in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Rocket Lab from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $132.00 price objective on shares of Rocket Lab in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.18.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on RKLB

Rocket Lab Profile (Free Report)

Rocket Lab is an aerospace company that provides launch services, spacecraft, and space systems for commercial and government customers. The company’s primary launch vehicle is Electron, a small-lift orbital rocket designed to deploy small satellites and rideshare payloads to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also develops and manufactures the Rutherford engine, noted for its electric-pump-fed design and additive-manufactured components, which powers Electron and supports the company’s propulsion capabilities.

See Also Five stocks we like better than Rocket Lab The Ugliest Stocks in the Market Just Got a Very Expensive Vote of Confidence Is Domino’s Stock Serving Up a Buying Opportunity? A $1T Black Hole: SpaceX Eyes Pentagon AI to Break Free Why Gold Miners Could Be the Market’s Biggest Comeback Story Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RKLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB – Free Report).

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Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $65.74, moving -2.78% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.19%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.59%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.05%.

Shares of the company have depreciated by 36.95% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Aerospace sector's loss of 6.84%, and the S&P 500's gain of 0.55%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Rocket Lab Corporation in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at -$0.03, signifying a 70.00% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $231.57 million, up 60.25% from the year-ago period.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of -$0.1 per share and a revenue of $921.3 million, indicating changes of +62.96% and +53.09%, respectively, from the former year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Rocket Lab Corporation should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 7.56% higher. Currently, Rocket Lab Corporation is carrying a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, which puts it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

The share prices of space economy stocks may be sinking, but that does not make the sector any less important to the future of the global economy. Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 5.43%) is the best-known of these space businesses due to its famous founder, Elon Musk, its recent record-breaking initial public offering, and its market cap of $1.75 trillion.

But this is not the only space economy company today vying to dominate the skies. Enter Rocket Lab (RKLB +0.59%). The rocket launch company just made a massive $8 billion acquisition to start directly competing with SpaceX's Starlink segment, setting off the starting gun for a collision course for the two ambitious businesses.

Which is the better buy for your portfolio right now?

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Vertically integrated space services Rocket Lab has announced its intention to buy Iridium Communications for $8 billion. Iridium has a satellite constellation for global connectivity, as well as important rights to L-band spectrum, which can cost billions of dollars in today's market. With Rocket Lab's launch and satellite manufacturing capabilities, the combined business will be able to vertically integrate to grow a satellite internet business to serve both civilians and the United States military.

This will put Rocket Lab on a collision course with SpaceX, which is already the leader in satellite internet with Starlink. Starlink has 10 million subscribers, $11.4 billion in annual revenue, and is growing quickly. Iridium generated $872 million in revenue last year, more than Rocket Lab but well below what SpaceX is achieving in satellite internet services.

For Rocket Lab, everything hinges on its ability to catch up with Starlink's customer value proposition and get its new, larger rocket, called the Neutron, operational. With much heavier payloads, Neutron will be able to deliver more satellites -- both internally and for third-party customers -- to orbit much faster.

Image source: Getty Images.

Which stock is the better buy? Both Rocket Lab and SpaceX trade at premium valuations, even after this post-SpaceX IPO dip for the entire space sector. Rocket Lab trades at a price-to-sales ratio (P/S) of 54, while SpaceX is still near 100 based on its 2025 figures.

To be fair, both businesses are growing quickly and are poised to lead the fast-growing space economy. However, the average S&P 500 stock trades at a P/S ratio of about 3.7, which is actually near a record high, meaning that these two space economy stocks trade at ultra-premiums.

If I had to choose, the lower P/S ratio and $40 billion market cap would put Rocket Lab ahead of SpaceX as a potential buy today. But for my individual portfolio, neither is close to making the cut.

Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ:RKLB) is trading higher on Friday. The stock his been in a downtrend after breaking a support level.

As you can see on the chart, the $78 level was important support for Rocket Lab. After this support broke, a large move lower followed. This downtrend may end around the $57.50 level. This is why Rocket Lab is the Stock of the Day.

Support is a price level in a market where demand for a stock is high. There are enough buy orders to absorb all of the sell orders. This is why selloffs end or at least pause when they drop to support.

Sometimes, stocks rally after reaching support. This happens when some of the sellers who create the support become anxious and impatient. They start raising their bid prices.

Other anxious buyers see this and do the same. It forces the shares into a downtrend. As you can see on the chart, this is what happened with Rocket Lab in early May.

But sometimes support can break, and the price can head lower. This happens when the buyers eventually overpower the sellers. It just happened with this stock.

Support breaks can be followed by rapid moves lower. With buyers out of the market, sellers are forced to undercut one another because demand is insufficient. This can put the shares into a downtrend.

Rocket Lab may next find support around $57.50. This level was support in April. There are people who sold then who have regretted doing so ever since because now the price is higher. Some of them have vowed to buy their shares back if they can get them at the selling price.

This means if Rocket Lab reaches $57.50, they will place buy orders. If there are enough of these buy orders, it will create support at the level again. This could be where the selloff ends.

RKLB Stock Price Activity: Rocket Lab shares were up 1.50% at $68.36 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo: Emagnetic/Shutterstock

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© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Rocket Lab’s stock price plunged more than 12% on July 16, hitting its lowest level since April 13. The decline has pushed the shares down 55% from their peak this year, wiping out nearly half of the company’s market value as its valuation fell from $86 billion to around $40 billion. 

Despite the sharp sell-off, most analysts covering the company remain bullish, with many expecting the stock to recover as growth catalysts emerge.

RKLB stock has plunged in the past few weeks, mirroring the performance of most companies in the space industry. SpaceX, the biggest firm in the world, dropped to its IPO price this week, wiping out over $1 trillion in value.

Planet Labs has plunged to $22, down from the year-to-date high of $51, while Virgin Galactic has dived from $9 in June to $2.60 today. The popular Procure Space ETF (UFO) dived to $43 from the year-to-date high of $68.

These losses are happening as investors book profits following the strong gains they experienced before SpaceX went public. At its peak this year, UFO ETF was up by 360% from its lowest level in 2024. 

Therefore, investors are simply selling the SpaceX IPO news, which has been made worse by its performance.

Still, despite this retreat, analysts are bullish on the company, pointing to its strong performance and its growing market share in the space industry. Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating, while Citigroup reiterated its outperform position. 

Bank of America, on the other hand, boosted the target from $105 to $110, while Citizens and Roth have a target of $130. All these targets are significantly higher than where it is today.

READ MORE: Rocket Lab stock jumps as KeyBanc upgrade revives space sector

RKLB stock has some potential catalysts in the coming months. First, its revenue growth continues this year. It made $200.3 million last quarter, up by 63% from the same period last year. Its backlog jumped by 20% to $2.2 billion, with its Electron, HASTE, and Neutron orders continuing to grow. It achieved five dedicated Neutron flights during the quarter.

The company also recently announced that it would spend $8 billion acquiring Iridium. It hopes that it will make it a vertically integrated company, with Rocket Lab designing satellites, manufacturing spacecraft components, and launching rockets. 

Iridium, on the other hand, owns a global satellite communications network. As such, it hopes that this model will help it compete further with SpaceX’s Starlink project. Additionally, Iridium will bring recurring and high-margin revenue and its globally coordinated L-band spectrum. 

Analysts suspect that the company’s business to continue growing this year. The average estimate is that its revenue will jump by 52% to $919 million, with the figure reaching $1.28 billion next year.

Rocket Lab stock chart | Source: TradingView

The weekly chart shows that the RKLB stock has plunged in the past few weeks, moving from a record high of $151 to the current $67. It has just crashed below the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level, and is slowly approaching the 61.8% retracement point, where rebounds normally happens.

The stock has just dropped below 50-week moving average, while the Relative Strength Index has moved below the neutral level of 50. Therefore, the stock will likely drop further, potentially to $60 or $50, and then bounce back, potentially when it releases its financial results.

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Two of the most talked-about space stocks pull investors in opposite directions. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 16.45%) is chasing the audacious dream of beaming broadband from satellites straight to ordinary phones, while Rocket Lab (RKLB 11.52%) launches rockets and builds satellites for paying customers.

There are a dozen ways to compare them, but one number cuts through the noise faster than any other: revenue.

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The number that separates them The gap is almost jarring. Rocket Lab pulled in roughly $200 million in revenue in a single quarter earlier this year, growing more than 60% from the year before. AST SpaceMobile, by contrast, guided to somewhere around $150 million to $200 million for the entire year of 2026.

Put another way, Rocket Lab books in three months what AST hopes to earn in 12 months. AST's most recent quarterly revenue of about $15 million was a small fraction of what Rocket Lab generates in the same span.

Image source: Getty Images.

That single comparison tells you almost everything about where these two companies sit on the maturity curve. Rocket Lab is an operating business with two revenue engines -- launch services and a growing satellite manufacturing arm -- plus a backlog of over $2 billion that provides visibility into future work. AST is still crossing the line from promise to product, only now switching on commercial service after years of building its network.

Why the number isn't the whole story Here's the important caveat, though. Revenue measures where a company is today, not where it might be tomorrow.

AST has locked in more than $1 billion of contracted commitments from wireless carriers and sits on a large cash pile to fund its build-out. If satellite-to-phone service scales the way its partners are betting, AST's revenue could eventually grow into something far larger than Rocket Lab's, because it would be selling connectivity to a global consumer market rather than launching other people's hardware.

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So the revenue gap is best read as a measure of risk and timing. Rocket Lab has already proven it can sell what it makes; AST is asking investors to trust that the sales are coming.

If you want the space stock with a real, diversified, rapidly growing revenue base underneath it, Rocket Lab is clearly the more established business today, and that lowers the risk. If you're willing to bet on a much bigger but unproven future, AST SpaceMobile offers the higher-ceiling story, provided its network delivers.

Neither company is consistently profitable yet, so both belong in the speculative corner of a portfolio. The one number simply tells you which businesses are now and which are still becoming one.

Space stocks are on many investors' minds these days, but going all-in on this sector right now comes with considerable risk, as most rocket stocks are volatile.

Still, two stocks that are no doubt near the top of many investors' watch lists are Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX 0.59%) and Rocket Lab (RKLB 3.36%). Here's which one looks like the better buy right now.

Image source: Getty Images.

The case for SpaceX What was once just a rocket company has morphed into an expanding technology behemoth with its sights set on both the space and artificial intelligence (AI) markets.

SpaceX has highly ambitious goals for both, including colonizing Mars, launching orbital data centers, expanding its Starlink satellite internet business, and building what some analysts are calling a "sovereign AI" platform in which the company controls the AI model, chip designs, processor manufacturing, and everything in between.

That's part of the appeal of SpaceX for some investors -- the company is trying big things, like developing its Starship rocket, which it says will reduce the costs of putting payloads into orbit by at least 90%, or deploying a constellation of data center satellites. Morningstar research puts the total addressable market for its Starlink connectivity business at $129 billion.

And the company is making headway on some of its goals. It has 12 million Starlink internet subscribers and generated $1.9 billion in operating profit from that business in the most recent quarter.

SpaceX is also making progress with its neocloud business, which leases data center capacity (Earth-bound, for now) to tech companies including Alphabet and Anthropic. That business has already signed more than $81 billion in contracts.

And then there's the potential for SpaceX to merge with Elon Musk's other large company, Tesla. That could expand SpaceX's opportunities into the autonomous vehicle and humanoid robot markets, the latter of which could be worth $3 trillion by 2050, according to a Morgan Stanley forecast.

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The case for Rocket Lab There's some overlap between Rocket Lab and SpaceX, though Rocket Lab isn't building AI data centers or planning to merge with a humanoid robotics company (as of now).

The company is instead mostly focused on launching rockets for its customers and on expanding its satellite communications network through its recently announced purchase of Iridium Communications.

Rocket Lab has agreed to pay $8 billion for Iridium, and is expected to close on the deal next year, giving it 2.5 million satellite-based mobile subscribers. The service is mainly geared toward the private and government sectors, in contrast to Starlink, which caters more to customers who want at-home internet service.

Iridium is profitable, with $114 million in net earnings last year, and the deal will help Rocket Lab expand its satellite communications network to better compete with SpaceX.

But Rocket Lab's primary business is sending payloads into space, and in the first quarter, the company signed 31 new deals, selling more launches than it did in all of 2025.

The company also has some major launch contracts already signed, including with the U.S. government to establish the satellite system for the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. It also has contracts for missile tracking and military communications.

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While Rocket Lab isn't profitable, its loss of $0.07 per share in Q1 was an improvement from its loss of $0.12 per share in the prior-year quarter. Revenue is also growing at a healthy clip, rising 64% to $200 million.

In contrast, SpaceX's sales rose just 15% in Q1 to $4.7 billion, and the company's loss of $3.29 per share was dramatically worse than its $0.41 per share loss in the year-ago quarter.

SpaceX's massive losses have been fueled by sharp increases in its capital expenditures, which reached $10 billion in Q1 2026 alone, compared to $27 billion for all of 2025.

That heavy spending should give investors pause, and so should the lofty valuation of its stock. SpaceX trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of about 94 compared to Rocket Lab's P/S ratio of 66.

While neither stock is cheap, SpaceX's shares trade at a much higher premium even as the company ramps up spending and its losses widen. All of which means that Rocket Lab looks like the better space stock to buy right now.

Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB +2.67%) turned in a market-beating performance during the first six months of 2026, with shares jumping 46%, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. That's more than four times the 10% gains of the S&P 500.

The rocket launch and satellite company has turned in back-to-back record-breaking quarters this year, and despite the stock's recent pullback, there could be more to come.

Image source: Getty Images.

Like a broken record Since the start of 2026, Rocket Lab has delivered two quarterly financial reports, and each was better than the last.

In February, the company reported record four-quarter results, as revenue climbed 36% year over year to $180 million, though its $53 million operating loss was essentially flat. Perhaps more importantly, however, was Rocket Lab's backlog, which jumped 73% year over year to $1.85 billion. Management's outlook called for additional growth for Q1, forecasting revenue of $193 million, up 57% at the midpoint of its guidance.

On the operational side, Rocket Lab pointed to a record 21 launches last year, boasting a 100% success rate, touting seven launches in the fourth quarter alone.

In May, the company provided another quarterly update, which -- like its previous report -- landed firmly in record-setting territory. For the first quarter, Rocket Lab generated record revenue that grew 63% year over year to $200 million, while its operating loss improved 5% to $56 million. The company's backlog of $2.2 billion surged 106% year over year and 20% quarter over quarter.

Rocket Lab announced an important milestone, noting that it had sold more launches in Q1 than it had in all of last year combined. Its total launch manifest now totals 70 contracted missions.

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More to come? It's worth noting that Rocket Lab received a temporary boost from the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) IPO, though the initial excitement has since faded. Investor sentiment aside, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that Rocket Lab stock will climb to greater heights.

For the upcoming second quarter, management's forecast calls for revenue of roughly $233 million at the midpoint of its guidance, which would represent year-over-year growth of 61%.

The company's $8 billion acquisition of Iridium positions Rocket Lab as an end-to-end space company, fulfilling another of its long-term ambitions.

Wall Street is firmly in the company's corner. Of the 16 analysts who have published an opinion, 81% rate the stock a buy or strong buy, and none recommend selling. Moreover, Rocket Lab has an average price target of $117, suggesting potential gains for investors of 61% compared to Tuesday's closing price.

Add to that Rocket Lab's track record of robust results, recent expansion, and its growing backlog, and it's easy to see how this space stock could fly even higher.

The biggest winners in space won't just launch rockets. SpaceX has already perfected the vertically integrated model.

Rocket Lab stock is taking a hit today. What’s weighing on RKLB shares? Rocket Lab Technical Analysis: Key Levels To WatchRocket Lab is in a longer-term uptrend but a shorter-term downtrend: it’s up 81.65% over the past 12 months, yet it’s trading 16.5% below its 20-day SMA and 26.8% below its 50-day SMA. At the same time, the stock is still 1.8% above its 200-day SMA, which keeps the bigger-picture trend from fully breaking down. The 200-day SMA is a critical support level for Rocket Lab that needs to hold to keep the longer-term uptrend in tact.

MACD is the cleaner momentum lens right now, and it’s below its signal line with a negative histogram—plainly, that suggests upside pressure is fading unless buyers can reassert control. The 20-day SMA sitting below the 50-day SMA reinforces that near-term trend pressure, even though the 50-day SMA remains above the 200-day SMA (a longer-term bullish backdrop).

Key Support: $76.92 — the 200-day SMA acting as a nearby pivot area where the stock could look to stage a sharp rebound The most important "line in the sand" is the 200-day area: shares are 1.8% above the 200-day SMA ($76.92) and slightly below the 200-day EMA ($78.92), so this zone is acting like a live battleground between longer-term holders and sellers.

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price target of $104.73 (high: $135.00; low: $60.00) across 27 analysts. Recent analyst moves include:

B of A Securities: Buy (Raises Target to $115.00) (June 30) Cantor Fitzgerald: Overweight (Maintains Target to $96.00) (June 30) Citizens: Market Outperform (Raises Target to $130.00) (June 30) Looking further out, the next major catalyst for the stock arrives with the August 6, 2026 (estimated) earnings report.

EPS Estimate: Loss of 7 cents (Up from loss of 13 cents YoY) Revenue Estimate: $231.79 million (Up from $144.50 million YoY) The Benzinga Edge scorecard for Rocket Lab shows a strong momentum score.

Momentum: Bullish (Score: 89.64) — Despite today’s pullback, the longer-term trend profile still screens as strong versus the broader market. The Verdict: Rocket Lab’s Benzinga Edge signal reveals a momentum-driven story, with the scorecard leaning heavily on trend strength rather than value or quality factors. With price now hovering around the 200-day area, traders will likely treat any reclaim of near-term moving averages as confirmation, and any loss of that long-term support zone as a risk-off trigger.

RKLB Shares Slide MondayRKLB Price Action: Rocket Lab shares were down 3.81% at $77.95 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro.

Image: courtesy of Rocket Lab.

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In this episode of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing, Motley Fool contributors Jon Quast, Matt Frankel, and Rachel Warren discuss:

Comcast spins off NBCUniversal.Whether NBCUniversal is an attractive takeover target.Rocket Lab’s $8 billion acquisition.Selling stocks you love to buy stocks you love more.To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center. When you're ready to invest, check out this top 10 list of stocks to buy.

A full transcript is below.

This podcast was recorded on June 29, 2026.

Jon Quast: Breakups, buyouts and selling stocks, all this and more on today's Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. Welcome to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. I'm Jon Quast, and I'm joined today by foolish contributors Matt Frankel and Rachel Warren. Today, we're talking about a shake-up in outer space, as well as taking a listener question about selling stocks.

But first, we’ve got to talk about Comcast because it's breaking up. Now, in January, it already spun off its TV channels and some Internet properties, CNBC, golf, Rotten Tomatoes. It spun those off into Versant Media Group, Ticker symbol VSNT, but now Comcast is coming back here for Round 2, announcing it will spin off NBCUniversal, which contains a lot more than just the channel NBC. Now, as I zoom out here, Comcast stock down about 30% over the past year prior to this announcement, and one announcement here, sending the stock up 20% pre-market, up about 10% now. The market is giving it roughly $10-15 billion more in market cap just for announcing this move, and that is an absolutely massive swing. Were investors really punishing this stock so much because it was a conglomerate?

Matt Frankel: Well, yes, the new company will include all the entertainment and broadcasting assets, including the NBC Network, as you mentioned, that's still part of it, Telemundo, the Peacock service. It also includes the Universal Film and TV studios, the Universal theme parks, and the Sky European business. The remaining Comcast will really just be the broadband and wireless services, which is a pretty big business. It has 65 million subscribers. There are a few reasons why investors might be cheering the news. As you correctly said, the stock was down about 30% over the past year, going into this with the so-called conglomerate discount hurting it, but not for the reasons that you might think. NBC Universal could be a lot more valuable as an entertainment content play, especially when it comes to being an acquisition target, and that's really the environment we're in right now. Remember when Warner Brothers Discovery planned to spin off its cable, TV, and studios business announced that, and then it became the trigger for a bidding war between Netflix, Paramount, which eventually got it, and a few others.

Today's surge represents investors pricing in a similar outcome here. It remains to be seen if it actually happens, but this could really be the next big consolidation play for the industry. Amazon and Apple are two examples of companies that could be interested just to name a couple of speculative names off the top of my head, but there are definitely others.

Rachel Warren: The primary driver of any shareholder value moving forward is the creation of two pure play entities that can be valued independently on their own merits. The remaining Comcast could potentially transform into a leaner, more profitable telecom giant focused on broadband infrastructure and wireless connectivity. That's the bullish thesis there. Obviously, without the financial drag of funding expensive streaming content, and then you can see how this new Comcast could redirect free cash flow directly towards share buybacks, dividend hikes, paying down corporate debt. I'll note, this is a tax-free spin-off, so current Comcast shareholders will receive shares of the new NBC Universal company without triggering an immediate tax liability. Comcast, for their part, they're keeping a 19.9% massive stake in the new media company and they intend to monetize that over the first year. Still a notable presence where that's concerned.

Jon Quast: Matt, I want to circle back to you here because it does sound like you're saying that a bigger player might want to acquire NBC Universal once it is spun out, and you mentioned Amazon and Apple specifically. Are you being serious here, or are you just daydreaming?

Matt Frankel: Well, I think that's fair to say. There are a lot of these content providers who are leaning into live content. They would love to expand the intellectual property and their streaming services and so on and so on. Now, there are some companies that would be unable to acquire NBC Universal, most likely, Disney is an example. There's a lot of complementary parts of the business, but they would run into a theme park monopoly problem, I think. They might as well just buy Orlando if that was the case. But for a company like Amazon, it would make a lot of sense. Think of what they would be getting. They'd be getting the rights to things like NBC's Olympic coverage, NFL Sunday night football. They're clearly pushing into live content, and the fact that they already own the MGM Studios, it could be a nice, smart addition to compete with other big streaming providers. Apple has been lagging in the content wars and has the cash to acquire something like this, rather than focusing too much of their attention on building it from scratch.

Jon Quast: Matt's giving us a bull case here, wherein NBC Universal is worth more on the public auction block than it was inside of Comcast. But let’s say that Amazon never does make a bid, and this company here, NBC Universal, just has to stand alone and compete. Does this company actually have what it takes to survive the streaming wars independently, or is it going to shake up the industry in some way, Rachel?

Rachel Warren: I don't see this as a player that shakes up the industry on its own. If you look at it on a standalone operational basis, NBC Universal faces the same brutal headwinds as any traditional media giant, from cord-cutting to the expense of streaming wars. But Wall Street's not really bidding the stock up because they expect NBC Universal to suddenly grow its way out of the media crisis. I think the excitement is the idea that this newly independent NBC Universal could be an incredibly attractive acquisition asset overnight. You think about how by stripping away Comcast's massive broadband infrastructure, the Roberts family has essentially turned an unbuyable telecom giant into a neatly packaged comprehensive acquisition target. I think that’s where the mindset is, cash-rich tech giants or media platforms that want a world-class theatrical engine like Universal Pictures, other iconic IP, global theme parks, and so on. They could bid directly on this media powerhouse without having to run the legacy telecom side. We will see. These are all predictions that we're baking, but I would not be surprised if there are quite a few tech giants or media platforms that are looking at the landscape with a great deal of curiosity and acquisitive interest than there were a few days ago.

Jon Quast: It looks like NBC Universal is either going to need to learn to compete on its own or it may be an attractive takeover target. Either way, we'll be watching, but speaking of attractive takeover targets, we've got a big one to talk about in the space race after the break. You're listening to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing.

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Jon Quast: Welcome back to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. Let's move here from the spin-offs to acquisitions. Rocket Lab announcing this morning it's acquiring Iridium for $8 billion. This was a surprising move for me this morning. Iridium is a satellite communications company, not unlike StarLink from SpaceX. I think that investors tend to view Rocket Lab as SpaceX's little brother. The company is prone to doing big acquisitions, but this is a different level of big acquisition. This is not baby brother-level acquisition at $8 billion. Does this move signal something more aggressive to become a true Pepsi to SpaceX's Coke, Rachel?

Rachel Warren: Well, in the modern space economy, a launcher can no longer survive strictly on the low margins of launching rocket ships for third parties. To become a true peer to the likes of SpaceX, a company needs to own and operate the really lucrative satellite networks those rockets carry into orbit. By taking control of Iridium's active low Earth orbit fleet, it's globally coordinated L Band spectrum, very robust base of active subscribers, Rocket Lab could bypass years of capital drag, and this can transform that business from more of a launch utility into an end-to-end global satellite service entity. I think that is probably the vision that management has. It can also give Rocket Lab highly profitable recurring subscription cash flow it needs to fuel that long term growth. This is a very capital-intensive business, and as well to aggressively fund its upcoming medium lift Neutron rocket.

Now, moving forward, maybe there's this idea that Rocket Lab could achieve complete vertical integration by deploying and replenishing Iridium's future constellations using its own launch systems, and that way, they could capture those manufacturing and launch margins internally. SpaceX's Starlink focuses on high-bandwidth direct-to-consumer broadband Internet. Iridium corners the gold standard of safety-critical global voice data and Internet of Things applications. Not necessarily fighting head-to-head for residential Internet users. But I think Rocket Lab is trying to gain a foothold in those industrial maritime and defense infrastructure applications, and this can help it very much establish a resilient counterweight to SpaceX's orbital monopoly.

Jon Quast: Matt, what is Rocket Lab exactly getting here?

Matt Frankel: They're buying a few things here, and Rachel mentioned some of these. They have a network of 66 satellites in operation right now, about 2.5 million subscribers between them. It's a network really importantly that would cost years to build and billions of dollars, and it's really the time commitment that Rocket Lab doesn't need. There's a race to get there when it comes to controlling the space economy and waiting 10 years to build out a satellite network is not attractive thing. They're also getting 9 MHz of spectrum, which is a narrower bandwidth than SpaceX has for Starlink. Starlink is broadband, and this is narrowband. But it is a very important asset, and they're also buying profitability.

Rachel mentioned that Iridium is a profitable business. But that's really important here because Rocket Lab, I think their net loss was about $180 million last year. This gets them $100 million of profitability back, so it creates a better path to profitability. But I don't really see this as Rocket Lab trying to become the next SpaceX. Maybe I have an unpopular opinion on that. Iridium's network, it's more about reliable connectivity as opposed to broadband speeds. Think satellite phones, the safety type things, things that you have to have, say if you're in the middle of nowhere. It's not a market that SpaceX is really targeting. There's some competition here, like the direct to sell connectivity that StarLink and Rocket Lab Iridium are both trying to build out that essentially use the satellites as a fallback for when you don't have self service. But that's not the primary focus of what Iridium does, and I see this as being a different business competing in the global bandwidth spectrum, I guess.

Jon Quast: Well, I can't help but think that maybe Rocket Lab is overpaying here because at an $8 billion price tag, that's about nine times sales for Iridium and Iridium is growing at just a single digit rate. I don't know. It just seems like a high price to pay, Rachel.

Rachel Warren: A 9X top-line multiple is high. I won't argue with you there. It also translates this deal to roughly 16X EBITA multiple based on their $495 million in EBITA. But I will say, Iridium, they have got 57% operational EBITA margins, very predictable recurring cash flows that have been for a long time anchored by resilient government contracts. This does provide Rocket Lab with something of a financial cushion to fund that ongoing development of the Neutron rocket without constantly diluting shareholders, as well as hopefully minimizing some of the capital drag as they're building out their low Earth orbit network. Also note, Rocket Lab secured a $3.6 billion bridge loan commitments from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo to back this $54 a share cash and stock deal. That's a little bit of added context for the parameters of this acquisition.

Jon Quast: Well, regardless of the price tag, I think that all of us agree that this is a massive move for Rocket Lab. We'll find out within a year or two whether it was visionary or reckless. But after the break, we're going to dip into the mailbag. You're listening to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing.

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Jon Quast: Welcome back to Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing. One quick note, we want to make you a part of the conversation. If you have a stock or investing question for Matt, Rachel, or myself, anyone on the show, really, you can email us at [email protected], and we'll take that question if it is a good one, if it is short, and if it is Foolish, send those in to [email protected]. We are indeed taking a question from the mailbag here today.

The question reads like this. I've been following foolish investment principles for about eight years. My only regret is that I didn't find Motley Fool sooner. I am fully invested and like all my stocks. Here is the question. How do I pick which investments to sell in order to invest in new Foolish recommended stocks, and when I retire in a few years, how do I pick stocks to sell for income? Not signed D Money. I like that name. I wanted to point out here before I throw this question to Matt and Rachel. I want to point out one of the things I love about The Motley Fool Investment philosophy is that it encourages investing new money regularly into the stock market. I know that that's not always a luxury that listeners have or investors have, but one of the benefits of that, especially in this context where D Money says, I like all my stocks. Sometimes that's the case. Sometimes you're invested in things that you do like and you don't want to sell.

But there are other things you'd like to buy as well. That's the beauty of investing new money regularly, if that's an option. I don't have to make that choice between, do I sell this one or keep this one? I'm just continuing to invest new money for new ideas, but that caveat out of the way with The Motley Fool Investment philosophy, not advice, but just general philosophy that we're giving there. I'm going to throw this to Matt first. Matt, what do you think about this question from D Money?

Matt Frankel: There's two separate parts there, there's how do I free up capital to buy new stocks that I'm interested in, and how do I free up capital when I'm retired? I'm not going to buy other stocks, but I just need the money to live on. Two different questions there. The first one is a difficult question, mainly because the listener has done a lot right. Being fully invested in a portfolio of stocks that you truly believe in is like the ongoing goal of long-term investing. There are a few ways you can think about it. Even though you like all your stocks, ask yourself the question about each one of these. Well, two questions. No. 1, would I buy the stock today at the current price if I didn't already own it? No. 2, do I see myself continuing to build out this position in the future? Those are the two questions I ask to determine my conviction level in all the stocks I own. From there, you can make a list of, say, your 10 highest conviction stocks. Those are off the table to sell, but you can also identify your lower conviction positions, which can become sell candidates, either in full or partially, when you want to act on a particular recommendation. There are certainly other things to consider there, such as the tax consequences if you're selling a stock that you own that has gone up in value a lot.

But as far as selling stocks for income in retirement, here's my general framework, and this is coming from someone who's probably two decades away from retirement, but I'm a certified financial planner, and I've dealt with this with clients before. First, aim to get to retirement with 2-3 years of expenses in either cash or similar assets, like money market funds, high yield savings accounts, short-term treasuries, things to that effect, that eliminates the need to sell any stocks immediately if you don't want to, which that could be worth its weight in gold if you retire and then the market crashes. You don't have to sell your stocks into a bad market. Then you have two buckets from your portfolio. You have your more conservative stocks. These are dividend stocks like your compounders. Berkshire Hathaway is one I would put in this basket. Those make the best choices to gradually tap into for cash when needed. There are stocks that are generally lower volatility. You don't have to really worry about the long-term holding period. Then you can use that other bucket of stocks, which are your long-term growth holdings for that targeted five-plus-year hold, which is really a cornerstone of foolish investing. That's how I think of gradually drawing down your portfolio in retirement, but just my opinion.

Rachel Warren: Well, to our listener, huge congratulations on building a portfolio of businesses that you love. We've talked about this. Ideally, we're buying fresh recommendations for a portfolio with new cash so that we can leave our winners compounding uninterrupted. But this isn't always realistic. Sometimes, where our investing capital is maxed out, or obviously, if you're transitioning into retirement, you have to work with the portfolio you have. I'll talk a little bit about what my mindset has been, someone that is still a bit far off for retire, so to speak, but very much is constantly evaluating my portfolio and looking at ways to grow my winners and to trim those that I don't want to keep in my portfolio anymore.

For me, looking at my biggest winners, if I think that a company has grown so much that say, now it makes up 15-20% of my total portfolio composition. In my view, that really exposes one to massive single stock risk. Sometimes shaving off just a tiny sliver of that outsized position can be a good way to fund new diversified business. That can be a really healthy way to manage your risk without abandoning the company and the position entirely. I think as well, what I'm looking at whether I want to trim a position in my portfolio, I also evaluate the underlying reasons that I bought the stock. Is the management team still executing? Is the competitive moat what it was or has it degraded? If a business has perhaps stalled, if some of those growth tail winds have turned into headwinds, that for me is usually a clear candid to trim, even if I still really like the business, and that can also yield some fresh capital that I can put back into the market and into growing my portfolio.

Jon Quast: I couldn't agree more with that. To know when to sell, you first have to know why you bought and then evaluate off of that. But thank you to Matt and Rachel. That's all the time we have for today.

As always, people on the program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards and is not approved by advertisers. Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. To see our full advertising disclosure, please check out our show notes. Thanks to our producer, Dan Boyd, and the rest of The Motley Fool team. For Matt, Rachel, and myself, thank you so much for listening to our show today, and we'll see you again in the next episode.

In the latest trading session, Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB - Free Report) closed at $81.04, marking a -1.83% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.42%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.29%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.29%.

Shares of the company have depreciated by 28.08% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Aerospace sector's gain of 1.11%, and the S&P 500's gain of 2.2%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Rocket Lab Corporation in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be -$0.03, reflecting a 70% increase from the same quarter last year. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $232.88 million, up 61.16% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of -$0.09 per share and revenue of $925.92 million. These totals would mark changes of +66.67% and +53.86%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Rocket Lab Corporation should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 9.3% increase. Rocket Lab Corporation presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

The Aerospace - Defense Equipment industry is part of the Aerospace sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 53, finds itself in the top 22% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

Rocket Lab (RKLB 0.78%) is understandably getting a lot of attention from investors these days. The company is making big moves in the rocket-launch space and has recently made an important acquisition that could establish it as a key player in the satellite market. It's also on many people's radars, considering that it's increasingly becoming a competitor to Space Exploration Technologies.

Rocket Lab shares are up 118% over the past year, and while its share price has been volatile, there are some reasons why owning Rocket Lab stock could be a good long-term bet. Here's why.

Image source: Getty Images.

A formidable space launch and satellite company Rocket Lab is one of the largest rocket launch companies, providing launch services to its customers. The company just had one of its best quarters, with a record number of launch contracts ever -- the company signed 31 in Q1 2026. Rocket Lab sold more launches in the first quarter than it did in all of 2025.

In addition to record contracts, the company's financials were also impressive in the quarter. Sales rose nearly 64% in the quarter to $200 million, outpacing Wall Street's consensus estimate of about $189 million. The company's losses also narrowed to $0.07 per share, better than the consensus estimate of $0.08 per share, and up from a loss of $0.12 per share in the year-ago quarter.

While that growth has fueled considerable optimism for Rocket Lab, the company recently announced plans to buy Iridium Communications (IRDM +0.26%), which could propel its growth even higher. Iridium provides satellite-based mobile communications services to its 2.5 million subscribers across both private and government sectors.

The nearly $8 billion purchase (in a half-stock, half-cash deal) is expected to close in the first half of 2027 and will give Rocket Lab a significant position in the satellite communications industry -- all while maintaining its rocket launch business. Iridium is also profitable, generating more than $114 million in net earnings in 2025.

While Rocket Lab's business isn't as large as SpaceX's, owning Iridium will help Rocket Lab to compete with SpaceX's satellite and rocket launch business. And that's not its only space-based play, either.

Rocket Lab already has notable defense contracts with the U.S. government, including to help build a satellite system for its proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. And that's in addition to contracts it already has with the Space Development Agency (SDA), which are currently worth more than $1 billion for missile-tracking and military communications satellites.

Today's Change

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Lots of potential, but there are some risks for Rocket Lab With its Iridium acquisition, government contracts, rising sales, and overall position in the launch and satellite communications space, Rocket Lab is certainly worth your consideration right now.

But that doesn't mean the stock will be a guaranteed winner. Its shares can be very volatile, and any delay for its Neutron rocket, which will have its first test flight later this year, could cause investors to react negatively.

What's more, being a SpaceX competitor could be both a blessing and a curse. Rocket Lab could benefit when SpaceX and the general space industry are doing well, but negative news for SpaceX could make Rocket Lab shares more volatile in the short term.

And finally, investors need to be aware that Rocket Lab isn't profitable -- it lost $45 million in the first quarter -- and its shares trade at a price-to-sales ratio of 82, which is quite a premium. The tech sector P/S ratio average is 9.

Still, Rocket Lab appears to be worth at least some of the risk right now. The company is already a top player in the growing space launch and satellite communications industries. Starting a small position or adding to an existing one while shares are lower is probably a smart move.

, /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) ("Iridium"), a leading provider of global voice, data, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite services, will release its financial results for the second quarter of 2026 on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

As previously announced on June 29, 2026, Iridium entered into a definitive agreement under which it will be acquired by Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB). Due to the pending transaction, the Company will not host a conference call to discuss its quarterly financial results.

Iridium's second-quarter 2026 earnings press release will be available on the investor relations page of the Company's website.

About Iridium Communications Inc.

Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) operates the world's only truly global mobile satellite network. It serves as a platform for innovation, enabling voice, data, and messaging, positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), and aircraft surveillance services anywhere on Earth. Through its satellite constellation and integrated capabilities like Aireon, the world's only space-based air traffic surveillance system, Iridium delivers services that support safety-focused operations across aviation, maritime, government, industrial, and consumer markets. The company is a leader in satellite Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and is advancing direct-to-device (D2D) communications based on open standards to expand access to satellite services.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Iridium innovates through an ecosystem of more than 500 technology and distribution partners, serving millions of customers worldwide. For more information visit www.iridium.com.

Investor Contact:
Kenneth Levy  
Iridium Communications Inc.
+1 (703) 287-7570
[email protected]

Press Contact:
Jordan Hassin
Iridium Communications Inc.
+1 (703) 287-7421
[email protected]

SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.

Blue Origin is reportedly targeting a $130 billion private-market valuation, which would be just a fraction of SpaceX's nearly $2 trillion market capitalization.