NEW YORK, June 1, 2026, 10:58 EDT
- Rocket Lab dropped roughly 13% in late-morning trade, pulling back after a stretch that had lifted the stock past most analyst targets.
- Investors are weighing SpaceX’s planned market debut in June, which is set to be the largest initial public offering ever.
- Rocket Lab has new contracts and just announced an acquisition, but investors are looking at how it can deliver on defense satellite work and get its bigger Neutron rocket off the ground.
Rocket Lab shares dropped in late morning Monday, ending a sharp run that had made the space company a go-to for traders looking for a SpaceX IPO analog. Last quote had Rocket Lab at $124.74, off 13.1%, after the stock hit a session low of $124.09.
SpaceX’s selloff is drawing attention as the trade is tied to more than Elon Musk’s business now. With SpaceX targeting a Nasdaq listing as soon as June 12 and aiming to raise around $75 billion at an estimated $1.75 trillion valuation, according to Reuters, some investors are taking a closer look at smaller space stocks that had jumped after earlier news.
Rocket Lab is seen as the straightforward public-market bet on the trend. The company, which launches small rockets and makes spacecraft and their parts, is also expanding in U.S. national security. MarketBeat reported last week that shares finished Tuesday at $143.20, more than doubling this year and clearing the $97.19 consensus target from analysts.
Rocket Lab got a lift from its own headlines. The company said on May 21 it landed a $90 million U.S. Space Force deal to design, build and run two geostationary satellites. Those satellites, which stay over one spot on Earth, will carry a space domain awareness payload — the military’s term for sensors watching for threats and objects in orbit.
Rocket Lab finished its purchase of Motiv Space Systems last week, the company said. Motiv, a California robotics and precision-mechanisms firm, is now called Rocket Lab Robotics. CEO Peter Beck said the buyout gives Rocket Lab “everything needed” to run Mars missions and handle tougher space infrastructure jobs. GlobeNewswire
Rocket Lab posted Q1 revenue of $200.3 million, up 63.5% year over year. GAAP gross margin was 38.2%. The company reported a $2.2 billion backlog. CEO Beck called Rocket Lab’s “tailwinds strong” in the release. Rocket Lab Corporation
Defense is now a bigger piece of the story. Rocket Lab said May 27 it cleared a System Requirements Review for the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3 missile-warning satellites. The review is a key early design hurdle. Brad Clevenger, Rocket Lab USA president, said this shows the company’s “technical readiness.” GlobeNewswire
The market is now starting to rethink what it should pay for Rocket Lab’s future. On Sunday, Seeking Alpha contributor The Sharpe Quest called the stock’s valuation “demanding,” with enterprise value at 124 times trailing sales. The analyst also pointed to the company’s 2028 targets, saying those figures would need perfect execution and a successful Neutron launch ramp. Seeking Alpha
Investors already know the risk: Neutron, Rocket Lab’s medium-lift rocket, hasn’t flown. Rocket Lab’s May earnings said the vehicle’s first flight could still happen this year. But delays, or if a SpaceX IPO drains capital from other space names instead of boosting them, could flip the valuation argument fast.
SpaceX is no low-risk play either. The company’s IPO filing posted a $4.28 billion loss for the quarter. Josh Gilbert, analyst at eToro, told Reuters the main issue isn’t if SpaceX is real, but whether its valuation accounts for the tough job ahead in rockets, Starlink, and AI given how closely it follows Musk’s vision.
Blue Origin faces fresh uncertainty after its New Glenn rocket exploded during a test last week, hitting the launch pad and raising the risk of multi-month delays. “It will take months to rebuild,” Antoine Grenier of Analysys Mason told Reuters, though he said Blue Origin could recover. Seraphim Space CEO Mark Boggett said the market still needs more options, even as SpaceX picks up short-term leverage. Reuters
Rocket Lab is looking at a tighter setup now than investors saw last week. The company has orders in hand, its defense business is picking up, and there’s a route to grow under SpaceX’s shadow. But after shares dropped Monday, some investors are wondering if the SpaceX effect had already pushed Rocket Lab too far.
