NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 17:36 EST — After-hours
- Rocket Lab shares rose about 2.1% in regular trading and edged up in extended trade
- SEC filings this week showed the CFO and COO sold stock under pre-set trading plans
- Next focal point is fourth-quarter results, expected late February by several calendars
Rocket Lab Corp shares closed up 2.1% on Friday and were modestly higher in after-hours trading, as the space launch and satellite builder steadied after a choppy run. The stock ended the session at $84.85 and was around $85.12 in extended trade. 1
The move matters because Rocket Lab’s rally has pulled more short-term money into the name, and the tape has started reacting to filings and calendar risk rather than new contracts. Rocket Lab stock is up about 200% over the past 12 months, Barron’s reported this week, putting execution and timing back in focus. 2
That scrutiny sharpened after insider disclosures. Chief Financial Officer Adam Spice exercised options and sold about 1.37 million shares on Jan. 5 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan — a pre-arranged trading program that lets insiders buy or sell stock on a set schedule — while Chief Operating Officer Frank Klein sold 100,000 shares on Jan. 2 under a similar plan, SEC filings showed. 3
The bigger swing factor remains defense work. Rocket Lab said in December it won an $816 million Space Development Agency prime contract to build 18 missile-warning and tracking satellites, with options that could lift the award. “Rocket Lab is honored to play a role in enabling this,” founder and CEO Peter Beck said in the release. 4
The SDA Tranche-3 procurement totals about $3.5 billion across four firms — Rocket Lab, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris — under fixed-price awards, Reuters reported at the time. 5
Investors now want to see that backlog turn into revenue without slipping schedules. In its November results update, Rocket Lab forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $170 million to $180 million and GAAP gross margin — profit after direct costs, under standard U.S. accounting rules — of 37% to 39%; it also said Neutron, its larger reusable rocket, should arrive at its Launch Complex 3 in the first quarter of 2026, with the first launch after qualification testing. 6
But the trade has a bad habit of punishing delays. Any stumble in launch cadence, a setback in Neutron qualification, or slower conversion of government orders into billed revenue could hit sentiment fast, especially with insiders selling stock on auto-pilot plans.
Rocket Lab has not announced a date for its fourth-quarter results, but several earnings calendars peg the report around Feb. 26. Traders will be listening for a clean read-through on margins, cash use and whether Neutron’s first launch is still tracking as the next milestone. 7
