Markets
markets
Matt Phillips
9/3/25

Rocket Lab dives as SpaceX receives FAA green light for additional Florida launches

Retail favorite Rocket Lab tumbled Wednesday, despite a dearth of direct news on the private space company that has positioned itself as a rival to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

There was a bit of SpaceX news, however, with the FAA giving the green light Wednesday for SpaceX to more than double the number of Falcon-9 rockets it launches from Florida.

It’s tough to attribute all of Rocket Lab’s sell-off to a relatively mundane bureaucratic update. (Some of the sell-off might simply be that momentum-driven retail favorites like Rocket Lab are taking another blow in a string of recent thwackings.)

On the other hand, the Falcon-9 will eventually be the chief competitor to Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket currently being developed. So, the FAA approvals do allow SpaceX to extend its headstart a bit.

Though, there’s another potential way to read the FAA news...

Cynics like us think some of Rocket Lab’s recent outperformance — up 72% in 2025 — might be linked to traders betting the rift between President Trump and Elon Musk might cause the federal government to make life difficult for Musk and potentially benefit rivals like SpaceX.

If so, the additional flights approved by the FAA on Wednesday somewhat undercut that reasoning.

At any rate, Rocket Lab can afford to give up a few percentage points; it’s up more than 600% over the last year.

SpaceX gets a green light to more than double its Florida launches | TechCrunch

SpaceX gets a green light to more than double its Florida launches | TechCrunch

There was a bit of SpaceX news, however, with the FAA giving the green light Wednesday for SpaceX to more than double the number of Falcon-9 rockets it launches from Florida.

It’s tough to attribute all of Rocket Lab’s sell-off to a relatively mundane bureaucratic update. (Some of the sell-off might simply be that momentum-driven retail favorites like Rocket Lab are taking another blow in a string of recent thwackings.)

On the other hand, the Falcon-9 will eventually be the chief competitor to Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket currently being developed. So, the FAA approvals do allow SpaceX to extend its headstart a bit.

Though, there’s another potential way to read the FAA news...

Cynics like us think some of Rocket Lab’s recent outperformance — up 72% in 2025 — might be linked to traders betting the rift between President Trump and Elon Musk might cause the federal government to make life difficult for Musk and potentially benefit rivals like SpaceX.

If so, the additional flights approved by the FAA on Wednesday somewhat undercut that reasoning.

At any rate, Rocket Lab can afford to give up a few percentage points; it’s up more than 600% over the last year.

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markets
Luke Kawa
19h

Robinhood, AppLovin, and Emcor pop on announcement of addition to S&P 500

Shares of Robinhood Markets, AppLovin, and Emcor are all rallying in post-market trading on Friday upon news that they’re being added to the S&P 500.

Shares of the brokerage popped 7.2%, the adtech company rose 7.8%, and the construction company was up a more modest 2.7% in the minutes following the announcement.

(Robinhood Markets, Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Strategy, another stock rumored to be in the running for inclusion in the benchmark US stock index that has been passed over, sank 2.5% in postmarket trading.

Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa
20h
S&P 500 falls as rate-cut optimism fizzles

The S&P 500 gave up early gains to close down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a 0.1% advance and the Russell 2000 outperformed, rising 0.5%.

Brown bear on a rock
markets
Nia Warfield
21h

Kenvue plunges after reports suggest RFK Jr. may try to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism

Kenvue sank 15% Friday after a WSJ report said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may attempt to link prenatal Tylenol use to autism in an upcoming government report.

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol and formerly a division of Johnson & Johnson prior to a 2023 spin-out, pushed back, saying the science shows “no causal link” between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, and pointed to FDA and medical groups that agree on the drug’s safety.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

RFK Jr., HHS to Link Autism to Tylenol Use in Pregnancy and Folate Deficiencies

RFK Jr.

The FDA itself has found no “clear evidence” of harm but advises pregnant women to consult providers before taking OTC meds.

The report is also expected to float a folate-derived therapy as a potential treatment.

Tylenol is just the latest well-established medication to face scrutiny under Kennedy, who has already stirred controversy by reshaping vaccine policy and amplifying doubts about mRNA shots.

Kenvue shares are now down over 18% year-to-date.

markets
Max Knoblauch
22h

Lucid surges following 6 days of losses after headlines misidentify Cantor Fitzgerald’s lower split-adjusted price target as a good thing

It’s been a shortened week, but still a rough one for Lucid. Investor blowback to the luxury EV maker’s 1-for-10 reverse stock split has sent shares to all time lows this week.

After six straight days of closing lower, Wall Street appears to have decided enough is enough and is loading up on Lucid shares on Friday, sending them up 13% in recent trading. As of 2:10pm eastern, Lucid trading volumes were at more than 240% of their 30 day average.

Some of the move could be attributed to traders reading headlines that don’t take into consideration Lucid’s reverse split. Cantor Fitzgerald on Friday slapped a new price target on Lucid of $20, compared to its previous target of $3. Some news outlets (not us!) presented that as an increase. The problem: With the 1-for-10 reverse split in effect, a comparable price target would have been $30. The new $20 target is actually... a cut.

Matt Phillips
24h
Palantir slips under 50-day moving average, amid momo reversal

What goes up, doesn’t always keep going up.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp PLTR insane valuation

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