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's defense contracts and backlog position it to benefit from national-security spending. Its $2.36B backlog includes over 100 booked launches, with an $816M SDA satellite deal and a $266M Space Force HASTE deal for hypersonic testing. Despite the Neutron delay, its $36B valuation offers one of the space sector's best risk-reward setups: exposure to the same defense and space-infrastructure trend as SpaceX at a fraction of its valuation. Rocket Lab is headed above $100. x.com 

Space and defense stocks such as Rocket Lab, Kratos and AeroVironment warrant skepticism after a big run because the sector doesn't generate profits the way other sectors do. Many of the announced deals are burdens that take a long time to execute. Excitement around Rocket Lab could return before or after its Neutron launch. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Rocket Lab is the space stock still priced like a growth stock, and it is building its larger Neutron rocket to compete directly with SpaceX. It has over 70 successful launches and active contracts with the US Space Force and NASA, and Trump signed an executive order in December designating space a core national security priority. SpaceX is the obvious space pick. x.com 

Defense spending of $1-1.5 trillion and rising NATO budgets are the theme of the decade, making Palantir, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris the top five defense stocks to own. Palantir is the purest defense-AI play: Q4 revenue jumped 70%, free cash flow reached $2.27B, and a $448M Navy shipbuilding modernization contract shows its government pipeline accelerating. At 232 times earnings, it is priced as the operating system for modern warfare, not a contractor. x.com 

Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile and Intuitive Machines are priced as if they had already colonized the solar system, so they look headed one way once the hype rally ends. Together they carry an $82 billion market cap on $883 million of revenue and no profits, while burning cash heavily. Reusable rockets are a cost-reduction story rather than a giant leap. Their long-term potential may be real, but that future is 20-30 years out and does not justify today's valuations. x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  x.com  … Show more

RTX benefits from Pratt & Whitney's recovering jet-engine business alongside rising global defense budgets. In Q3 FY26, sales rose 11%, operating profit 32% with margins expanding, and net income to common 35%; basic EPS rose from $1.43 to $1.91. Grade A: RTX sits in the sweet spot as the world rearms and flies more. x.com 

Rocket Lab's growing Space Systems business positions it to provide more than launches for the space economy. It generated $189.5M in Q2, 81% of revenue; if its pending Iridium acquisition closes, it would gain a global satellite communications network. At about $51, this is one of the most compelling long-term opportunities in the space sector over 3-5 years, provided it keeps executing. Neutron's launch has slipped to 2027, and execution risks remain. x.com  x.com  x.com 

Rocket Lab's $3B at-the-market offering shows it needs investor cash because it has no real earnings or path to profitability, and it should have raised $10-15B while the window lasts. Selling stock at such a high valuation is the only way to sustain the next 18-24 months, and the coming SpaceX IPO will most likely be the sell event for the entire space sector. x.com  x.com 

Defense, drone and space stocks such as AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, Planet Labs, Kratos and AeroVironment are set to receive non-cyclical, perpetual capex while many sit 60%-70% below their highs. Spending is rising in the US and across the rest of the world, flowing to names that are not crowded or recently up 1,000%. The sector has reset and been left for dead, making it a target basket for next year, including Ondas, LightPath, nLight, Karman and Inflection Point. x.com  x.com