Rocket Lab Shares jumped in after-hours trading after the corporate reported Third quarter results and announced its first customer for its upcoming Neutron vehicle.
The space infrastructure company reported third-quarter revenue rose to $104.8 million, up 55% from $67.6 million within the year-ago period and above Wall Street's expectation of $102 million, in keeping with analysts surveyed by LSEG .
Net loss also widened year-over-year to $51.9 million from $40.6 million, however the lack of 10 cents per share was barely below analyst expectations for a lack of 11 cents per share.
Rocket Lab forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $125 million and $135 million, which might put the corporate at about $430 million by the center of this yr.
In addition, the corporate announced its first launch contract for its Neutron rocket.
A “confidential commercial satellite constellation operator” signed on for 2 missions in mid-2026, which Rocket Lab said were priced “in line with our goal” for the vehicle. Previously, the corporate said it was targeting a price tag of about $50 million per neutron launch.
Shares of Rocket Lab rose as much as 25% in after-hours trading, rising from its closing price of $14.66 per share. The stock has risen rapidly over the past three months, nearly tripling in that period.
Most of Rocket Lab's third-quarter revenue growth got here from its Space Systems division, which builds spacecraft and sells satellite parts. The company generated $83.9 million of quarterly revenue, up from $46.3 million a yr earlier, while the launch unit brought in $21 million, roughly consistent with $21.3 million within the quarter corresponds to the previous yr.
But the corporate's small Electron vehicle, which sells for about $8.5 million per mission, is now the third most launched orbital rocket on the planet. The company has launched an organization record 12 missions to this point this yr. And Rocket Lab added $55 million in recent launch contracts to Electron's backlog within the third quarter.
The development of Neutron – in addition to the Archimedes engines that power it – stays a key point for investors, as high research and development spending accounts for nearly all of Rocket Lab's quarterly losses.
Neutron is seen as crucial for Rocket Lab to enter larger markets, including a broader range of national security missiles within the US. The company continues to expect Neutron to launch in mid-2025 and has outlined numerous milestones on the rocket's path to launch – including assembling and testing the flight hardware, firing “multiple” Archimedes engines and the Continuing ongoing work on the Virginia launch pad infrastructure.
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