New York, June 11, 2026, 19:05 (EDT)
- Rocket Lab finished regular hours up 9.26% at $114.78. The stock then climbed to $119.24 after the bell.
- KGI Securities started coverage on Rocket Lab, giving it a Neutral rating and setting the price target at $105.
- Rocket Lab CFO Adam Spice said Neutron could take a “very nice spot” as the launch market changes. Stocktwits
Rocket Lab Corporation shares jumped Thursday with traders moving into space stocks before SpaceX’s expected IPO. The stock ended the Nasdaq session at $114.78, up 9.26%. After-hours, shares touched $119.24 by 6:58 p.m. EDT, MarketScreener data showed.
U.S. stocks jumped in a risk-on session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.86%, S&P 500 up 1.75%, Nasdaq Composite gained 2.54%. Reuters said SpaceX set its U.S. IPO price at $135 per share, collecting $75 billion and putting the company’s valuation at $1.77 trillion.
Rocket Lab moved higher Thursday, with Benzinga saying the SpaceX IPO buzz was driving up names like Rocket Lab, Redwire, AST SpaceMobile and Intuitive Machines. There was no new company-specific news behind Rocket Lab’s move, according to a separate note. Instead, traders cited a general bid for fast-growing aerospace and defense stocks.
Rocket Lab’s spot at the Wells Fargo Industrials & Materials Conference drew a look from investors. CFO Adam Spice said SpaceX’s push into Starlink, Starship, and possibly space-based data centers could leave the Neutron rocket with what he called a “very nice spot” in the launch game. He also told the audience that Rocket Lab aims to “launch before the end of the year” even after a setback in testing back in February. Stocktwits
Analysts are split after the stock’s sharp jump. MarketBeat data shows KGI Securities started coverage Thursday at Neutral, with a $105 target. The overall analyst consensus is Moderate Buy, but the average target is $99.24, less than where shares closed Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus put out a higher $132 target earlier in June.
Rocket Lab turned in another quarter of growth, posting first-quarter revenue of $200.3 million, a 63.5% jump from a year ago. Gross margin on a GAAP basis hit a record 38.2%. Backlog climbed to $2.2 billion, with more than 70 missions on the books. For the second quarter, the company guided revenue to a range between $225 million and $240 million.
Rocket Lab’s “Ten Owl Of Ten” Electron mission for Synspective is next up on the company’s calendar, with launch from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand set for no earlier than June 17. RKLB now sits at the crossroads of three stories investors are watching: the SpaceX public-market debut, Neutron milestones, and ongoing demand on the commercial and government space side. rocketlabusa.com
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