Chris Perruna
Real Estate Development Executive, Individual Investor
Rocket Lab's fundamentals do not yet justify buying, even after a 55% drop took it to around its 200-day moving average. It still lacks positive earnings, net income and growing free cash flow. The upside could be significant if the business executes over the next few years, but more proof of profitability is needed first; it stays on the watch list. x.com x.com
Rocket Lab has no reason to climb back above $100 anytime soon without a huge catalyst. Earnings were OK but nothing to rave about, and Neutron was delayed. x.com
Planet Labs has an excellent fundamental trend and is a long-term pick within the smaller-cap space theme, though it is less attractive than Rocket Lab on both fundamentals and technicals. The worst of the pain is likely done, even if more near-term shakeout comes. Rocket Lab tackles a much larger addressable market with near-flawless execution. x.com x.com
Rocket Lab can raise capital from a stronger position if better communication wins scarce investor attention. Hiring an experienced content engineer adds that capability alongside its engineering, helping people understand why its products matter. Attention may not directly lift free cash flow per share, but it can lift the stock price and build an engaged investor base for a capital-intensive business. x.com
Repeated Neutron delays undermine the premium on Rocket Lab stock when execution keeps slipping. The company does not live or die by Neutron, but 50x sales was unjustified; even at 26x 2027 sales, a legitimate price suggests another 50% decline. x.com x.com
Rocket Lab's $37.74 billion market cap is hard to justify while its free cash flow keeps worsening. Trailing free cash flow went 95.2% further negative, from −$204M to −$398M. By contrast, Zeta, at a $7.64 billion market cap, grew free cash flow 59.2% to $224M and is expected to turn GAAP profitable this year. x.com
Investors rotating into cheaper stocks with more upside should ultimately benefit Rocket Lab and AST SpaceMobile. Both have already suffered major drawdowns. x.com
Rocket Lab is a company worth loving but not a buy at all at these levels, at 85x price-to-sales, worth betting against even as a retail favorite. x.com x.com
Rocket Lab still looks ridiculously expensive at 29 times forward sales against SpaceX at 22 times, even after a 65% fall. At 22 times, Rocket Lab would be roughly $38, and SpaceX would still be the pick. SpaceX also has better forward guidance; Rocket Lab's negative adjusted EBITDA makes sales multiples the valuation yardstick. x.com x.com x.com x.com
Good SpaceX earnings could help Rocket Lab lead the new-space sector higher with a rally as violent as its capitulation. Rocket Lab is the sector leader outside SpaceX; its RSI is extremely oversold, the lower Bollinger band is overstretched and MACD's negative divergence is subsiding. Three upside gaps lie at $55.25-59.18, $64.22-65.71 and $73.11-74.76. The highest should fill before year-end, though the exact date is hard to predict. x.com x.com
Rocket Lab's price bets on the most optimistic version of its results a decade out while it is still losing money, so the market is pricing a story rather than the company. Narrative now earns a premium and earnings do not, as with IonQ and AI-server-labeled Dell and HPE, and one quarterly miss means exit. This can last a long time in liquid, risk-on markets, as 1999 dot-coms and 2021 SPACs showed, so a drop is not imminent; buyers now are buying how long sentiment lasts. x.com
