Rosanna Prestia
Founder & CEO of Hydra Wealth/Capital, Investment Strategist, Asymmetry & Bitcoin
Listed space stocks were sold because SpaceX's IPO vacuumed up the sector's marginal dollar, not because their contracts stopped. AST SpaceMobile launched the three largest comm arrays ever, with 60 carriers signed; Rocket Lab booked $663M from the Space Force in nine days; Planet Labs' backlog exceeds annual revenue; BlackSky printed its first EBITDA-positive quarter; Firefly, a Golden Dome interceptor selectee, trades below its IPO price; and Redwire's revenue rose 90%. x.comÂ
Space stocks turning green while everything else stayed red suggests the far end of the risk curve is bottoming first and will lead when risk appetite returns. Off a washout, the most sold and shorted high-beta names snap back first and hardest, because short covering moves faster than rotation, even though they fill last in a sustained advance. One day isn't a trend, but it marks the day for AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab and Planet Labs. x.com x.comÂ
Space stocks could regain high-beta flows as SpaceX lockups end and a probable late-November Anthropic IPO threatens AI stocks, much as SpaceX's IPO hurt space names. Hedge funds are overexposed to the Magnificent Seven and underexposed or max short low-quality high beta; falling rates and toppy oil could make the rotation painful for them through 2027. AST SpaceMobile could benefit as intermittent service triggers agreements and Blue Origin possibly returns to the pad in six weeks. x.com x.comÂ
A stronger SpaceX could lift the wider space-stock basket, including AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, Redwire, Planet Labs, Intuitive Machines, Firefly Aerospace and Voyager Technologies. Per DeItaone, JPMorgan raised its SpaceX price target from $240 to $500 while maintaining Overweight. The seven space stocks rose alongside SpaceX after hours. Their initial post-IPO selloff was followed by macro-driven weakness, not further weakness caused by SpaceX. x.com x.com x.comÂ
AST SpaceMobile's economics remain unproven while its finances are strained by heavy capex, negative operating cash flow, rising debt and frequent stock issuance. The forecast opportunity is the only positive; Piper Sandler's cut to its target to $54 from $98 is significant. x.comÂ
Space stocks are turning bullish as oversold names that never stopped executing regain momentum, led by AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab and flyExclusive. AST launched BlueBird and began direct-to-cell service in Japan, and Rocket Lab landed a roughly $400M award. AmpliTech's multi-sector exposure is overlooked, and CPS Technologies is a bottleneck play for 2027; Satellogic, Velo3D and Voyager also fit. The SpaceX unlock overhang is only partly gone, so re-entry should wait. x.comÂ
Listed space stocks such as Satellogic, BlackSky, Voyager, Redwire, Intuitive Machines, Planet Labs, AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab are the plays ahead of the SpaceX IPO. AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab are favorites and still look healthy on the charts despite recent pullbacks. @sunxliao notes the group ranges from about $0.7B to $39B in market cap versus a roughly $1.75 trillion SpaceX IPO valuation, a gap he expects to deliver big returns in coming months. x.comÂ
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.comÂ
Space is becoming a major capital cycle, making SpaceX, Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Planet Labs and Redwire the top five space stocks. In its first public earnings report, SpaceX grew revenue 92% to $7.8B, and Starlink reached 12 million subscribers. x.comÂ
The space-sector selloff dragged down by SPCX puts the wrong discount on AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab and Redwire, because SPCX validates the investment case rather than weakening it. The space economy is projected to be one of the fastest-growing industries of the next 15 years, from $630 billion in 2026 to $1.5 trillion in 2030 and $2 trillion by 2040. The biggest opportunities arrive when good news creates the wrong reaction. x.comÂ
Redwire is now less attractive because of a combination of macro conditions, drone market dynamics, management and the opportunity cost versus other ideas. Its revenues are also just too lumpy, which outweighs the case that the space business on its own remains strong. x.com x.com x.comÂ
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.comÂ
