ROCKETLAB
BLASTS OFF
The best single day in RKLB history — and we called it at $3.
RKLB just had its single best trading day in company history — up 34% in one session — after reporting Q1 2026 earnings that beat on every line that matters. If you were following SharkWater Trading back in 2024 when we were pounding the table at $3 and $4, today is your day. Pop the champagne.
Here's what lit the fuse: Rocket Lab reported Q1 revenue of $136.7M in space systems (estimate: $132.1M) and $63.7M in launch services (estimate: $59M) — beats across the board. EPS came in at -$0.07 vs. a -$0.08 estimate. Narrowing losses, accelerating revenue. That's the playbook we've been watching them run.
But the headline number is the backlog: $2.2 billion, more than double what it was a year ago. That's not a fluke — that's a company winning. On top of that, management guided Q2 revenue between $225M and $240M, handily blowing past Wall Street's $207.5M consensus. And they dropped the largest single launch contract in the company's history on the same day. That's a mic drop earnings call.
They also announced an acquisition of Motiv Space Systems, a space robotics company — a smart move that deepens their vertical integration and builds out capabilities that will matter as on-orbit servicing becomes a bigger part of the market.
The macro setup has been working in their favor too. Trump's Golden Dome defense initiative has flooded enthusiasm into defense-adjacent space stocks. And with the long-awaited SpaceX IPO looming later this year, the entire sector is getting a halo effect. Rocket Lab is the best pure-play public space stock in the market, and Wall Street is finally pricing it that way.
The 52-week range tells the full story: $20.23 low, $99.58 high. And the Wall Street average price target? $87.56 — with some analysts modeling $311 by 2030 if the trajectory holds.
We know some of you are sitting on 10x, 15x, even 20x gains right now asking whether to ring the register. That's a personal decision. What we can say is: the business has fundamentally re-rated. This isn't the same company that was trading at $3. The backlog doubled. Revenue is scaling. And Neutron — their medium-lift rocket still in development — hasn't even contributed a dollar of revenue yet. If Neutron delivers, the next leg could be just as powerful as the first.
We don't know where the stock trades tomorrow. But we know what we saw in 2024, and we said it loud. The sharks who were patient are eating well today.
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