New York, June 15, 2026, 12:02 EDT
- KeyBanc upgraded Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace to Overweight after shares slid with a SpaceX-driven selloff.
- Rocket Lab was up 4.3% late Monday morning at $106.84. Firefly gained 4.3% as well, trading at $33.25.
- SpaceX is trading higher after its record Wall Street debut, drawing calls from investors.
Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace shares climbed Monday after KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded both stocks. The call follows what KeyBanc said was an overdone drop last week tied to the SpaceX listing. Analyst Michael Leshock moved Rocket Lab to Overweight from Sector Weight and put a $135 target on the stock. Leshock said the company is “the clear #2 to SPCX,” Investing.com reported. Firefly received an Overweight rating and a $50 price target as well. Investing.com
Rocket Lab and Firefly rebounded following a stretch of losses for space stocks after SpaceX’s IPO got attention. Rocket Lab shares gained 4.3% to $106.84, while Firefly rose 4.3% to $33.25 in the latest trading. SpaceX kept rising, up 8.3% at $174.35 after jumping 19% in its first session on Nasdaq last Friday.
Leshock told MarketWatch he thinks the selloff was “unwarranted.” The analyst said the longer-term growth story for commercial space is still there, even if SpaceX goes public. He said Rocket Lab’s Neutron and Firefly’s Eclipse could have a shot in the medium-lift market if SpaceX moves Starship more in-house. MarketWatch
SpaceX is in focus again. Reuters reported the shares jumped more than 6% at Monday’s open, coming off Friday’s 19% pop after the IPO pushed valuation over $2 trillion. Traders are watching index inclusion, options flows, and when lockups might expire in the coming weeks.
Rocket Lab is showing bigger numbers after its latest upgrade. First-quarter revenue came in at $200.3 million, up 63.5% on the year. The order backlog reached a record $2.2 billion, up 20.2% from the previous quarter. During the quarter, Rocket Lab landed 31 new Electron and HASTE contracts and booked five Neutron launches.
Firefly focuses on lunar and defense contracts. In late May, the company said it picked up a $75 million subcontract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Firefly will use its Elytra craft to take four drones to the Moon’s south pole for the MoonFall mission, which isn’t set to happen until at least 2028. “This subcontract underscores our commitment to executing challenging missions that push the boundaries of lunar exploration,” CEO Jason Kim said. fireflyspace.com
