markets

Matt Phillips9/3/25

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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SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Paige Oamek6/30/26

Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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