Why Is Rocket Lab Stock Surging on Wednesday?

Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) stock traded higher on Wednesday as space-industry equities gained momentum in sympathy with Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX), which reported strong third-quarter financial results late Tuesday.

The Nasdaq is up 1.36% while the S&P 500 has gained 0.63%.

• Rocket Lab stock is among today’s top performers. What’s driving RKLB stock higher?

SpaceX Third-Quarter Results

SpaceX reported the results after the market close Tuesday. Revenue was $14.58 billion, above analyst estimates of $12.74 billion. Earnings were 35 cents per share, compared with estimates of 12 cents. Total revenue rose 161% year over year.

Rocket Lab Built Viasat’s Maxwell Spacecraft

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) launched the Maxwell spacecraft on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Maxwell flew on the Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission with SpaceX. Rocket Lab built the spacecraft at its Long Beach, California, facility, Viasat said Wednesday.

Rocket Lab Earnings Date

Rocket Lab is set to report earnings on Nov. 9. Analysts expect a loss of seven cents per share, compared with a loss of three cents a year earlier. They expect revenue of $254.53 million, up from $155.05 million.

Analyst Ratings

Of 23 analysts covering the stock, one rates it Strong Buy, 17 rate it Buy and five rate it Hold. The Benzinga consensus price target is $85, which implies about 62% upside. A price target is an analyst’s estimate of where a stock may trade.

Citizens maintained its Market Outperform rating and lowered its forecast to $90 on Oct. 16. TD Cowen maintained its Buy rating and $90 forecast on Oct. 15. KeyBanc maintained its Overweight rating and lowered its forecast to $100 on Oct. 15.

Technical Analysis

From a longer-term trend perspective, RocketLab remains in a downtrend: it’s trading 18.6% below the 20-day SMA ($65.54), 21% below the 50-day SMA ($67.48), and more than 30% below both the 100-day SMA ($77.70) and 200-day SMA ($80.92). The Death Cross that formed in August (50-day SMA below the 200-day SMA) reinforces that the bigger-picture trend is still pointed lower unless price can reclaim those mid-to-long moving averages.

Key turning points on the chart help frame the current setup: the stock put in a recent swing high in August and a swing low in October, and it’s still working off that October low. With the current price well above the $37.57 52-week low but far below the $151 52-week high (reached in May), the stock is effectively in "rebound versus downtrend" territory rather than a clean uptrend.

• Key Resistance: $65.54
• Key Support: $53.37

RKLB Stock Price Activity: Rocket Lab shares were up 4.44% at $53.16 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image via Shutterstock