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Matt Phillips

Rocket Lab reports better-than-expected Q1 sales, stock rises

Retail favorite Rocket Lab rose late Thursday after reporting better-than-expected Q1 sales and offering upbeat sales guidance for Q2.

Here’s how the company did:

  • Q1 revenue of $200.3 million vs. Wall Street’s expectation for $189.7 million, according to FactSet.

  • An adjusted loss per share of $0.07 vs. the consensus estimate of a $0.07 loss.

  • Adjusted EBITDA of -$11.8 million vs. the analyst forecast of -$26.3 million.

  • Q2 sales guidance of between $225 million and $240 million ($232.5 million midpoint) vs. expectations for $205.3 million.

  • Q2 guidance for EBITDA between -$20 million and -$26 million (-$23 million midpoint) vs. the -$14.5 million analysts were penciling in.

Rocket Lab shares have surged roughly 2,000% over the last two years, as the company capitalized on investor enthusiasm for space.

Over the last year, Rocket Lab also rode growing excitement about companies that plan to use their ability to place clusters of satellites into low-Earth orbit and then sell data services to earthlings below — essentially the business model of Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Though it’s privately held for now, Musk’s space behemoth, SpaceX, remains the key source of excitement around the sector, enthusiasm that will likely grow as the company moves forward with plans for what’s likely to be the largest public offering ever.

Rabid space enthusiasm aside, Rocket Lab remains a money-losing company that’s burning a lot of cash, though Wall Street analysts think it could break even in 2027.

We’ll see. That projection hangs on the company’s ability to get its larger Neutron rocket into its commercial launch cycle sooner rather than later. And given that Neutron’s maiden launch — originally slated for 2025 — has been delayed to the fourth quarter of 2026, that’s by no means assured.

Separately, Rocket Lab also announced that it’s signed the largest launch services contract in its history with a “confidential customer.”

The multi-launch agreement includes five dedicated Neutron launches and three of the company’s smaller Electron rocket. The launches are expected to occur between 2026 and 2029. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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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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