A view of Rocket Lab's HASTE suborbital launch vehicle.
Rocket laboratory
Rocket laboratory Shares jumped in after-market trading after the company reported third-quarter results and announced its first customer for its upcoming neutron vehicle.
The space infrastructure company reported third-quarter revenue increased to $104.8 million, up 55% from $67.6 million for the same period last year, and above Wall Street expectations of $102 million, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Its net loss also increased year over year to $51.9 million from $40.6 million, but its loss of 10 cents per share was slightly lower than analysts' expectations of a loss of 11 cents per share.
Rocket Lab expects fourth-quarter revenues to range between $125 million and $135 million, the middle of which will see the company generate about $430 million this year.
In addition, the company announced the first launch deal for its neutron rocket.
A “secret commercial satellite constellation operator” has signed on for two missions in mid-2026, which Rocket Lab said is at a price that “is consistent with our goal” for the vehicle. Previously, the company said it was targeting a price of about $50 million per Neutron launch.
Rocket Lab shares jumped as much as 25% in after-hours trading, up from a close of $14.66 a share. The stock price has been rising over the past three months, nearly tripling over that period.
The bulk of Rocket Lab's revenue growth in the third quarter came from its Space Systems unit, which builds spacecraft and sells satellite parts. The company generated $83.9 million in revenue for the quarter, up from $46.3 million a year ago, while the launch unit brought in $21 million, roughly in line with $21.3 million a year earlier.
But the company's small Electron vehicle, which sells for about $8.5 million per mission, has become the world's third most-launched orbital rocket. The company has launched 12 record-breaking missions so far this year. Rocket Lab added $55 million worth of new launch contracts to Electron's backlog in the third quarter.
Development of the Neutron — as well as the Archimedes engines that power it — remains a key item to watch for investors, as massive R&D spending drove most of Rocket Lab's quarterly losses.
Neutron is seen as crucial for Rocket Lab to tap into larger markets, including a wide range of US national security launches. The company continues to expect Neutron to debut in mid-2025, and has identified a variety of key milestones in the rocket's launch path — including assembly and testing of flight hardware, firing of its “multiple” Archimedes engines, and continuing ongoing work on the launch pad infrastructure in 2025. Virginia.
