Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $18.25 and last traded at $18.25, with a volume of 7558365 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.66.

The rocket manufacturer reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01. Rocket Lab USA had a negative return on equity of 37.95% and a negative net margin of 51.76%. The company had revenue of $104.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.74 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $10.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $5.25 to $13.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities assumed coverage on Rocket Lab USA in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Rocket Lab USA from $7.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rocket Lab USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael D. Griffin sold 39,446 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.90, for a total value of $272,177.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,235.70. The trade was a 48.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Adam C. Spice sold 62,512 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $435,083.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,321,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,195,308.40. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 130,521 shares of company stock valued at $906,059. Corporate insiders own 13.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RKLB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,000,578 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $119,192,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448,789 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 6,297,073 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $30,226,000 after acquiring an additional 391,778 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,878,357 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $28,006,000 after acquiring an additional 532,207 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,856,973 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $13,713,000 after acquiring an additional 284,360 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Rocket Lab USA by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,123,591 shares of the rocket manufacturer’s stock worth $10,193,000 after acquiring an additional 432,501 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.78% of the company’s stock.

Rocket Lab USA Stock Down 7.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.70. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.86 and a beta of 1.29.

Rocket Lab USA Company Profile

Rocket Lab USA, Inc, a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets.