markets

Matt Phillips6/26/25

Rocket Lab roars to a record on deal with European Space Agency

Pure-play commercial space company Rocket Lab surged to a record high Thursday after saying it secured a first-ever launch contract with the European Space Agency.

Shares of the company — which has positioned itself as a reliable alternative to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX — have soared more than 600% over the last year.

SpaceX has been a key provider of launch services to the European Space Agency. But there are signs traders are betting Musk’s volatile involvement in politics might be pushing some away from SpaceX services and toward more low-key alternatives, such as Rocket Lab.

Shares of the company, run by New Zealander Peter Beck, are up more than 35% since the remarkable June 5 flame war between Musk and President Donald Trump, in which Musk briefly seemed to threaten to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon space capsule, a key piece of equipment for keeping the International Space Station up and running.

Rocket Lab to Launch Electron Mission for European Space Agency’s Next-Generation Navigation System | Rocket Lab

Shares of the company — which has positioned itself as a reliable alternative to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s SpaceX — have soared more than 600% over the last year.

SpaceX has been a key provider of launch services to the European Space Agency. But there are signs traders are betting Musk’s volatile involvement in politics might be pushing some away from SpaceX services and toward more low-key alternatives, such as Rocket Lab.

Shares of the company, run by New Zealander Peter Beck, are up more than 35% since the remarkable June 5 flame war between Musk and President Donald Trump, in which Musk briefly seemed to threaten to decommission SpaceX’s Dragon space capsule, a key piece of equipment for keeping the International Space Station up and running.

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Toby Bochan, Luke Kawa

Double dose of long-delayed jobs data weighs on US stocks

The markets continued to slide on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 finishing lower, while the Nasdaq 100 managed a last-hour rally to finish slightly up.

A young grizzly bear plays with a car tire at a zoo

markets

IonQ and D-Wave Quantum spike as Jefferies initiates coverage with “buy” ratings

Shares of IonQ and D-Wave Quantum are soaring on Tuesday after Jefferies initated coverage on the stocks with “buy” ratings and price targets of $100 and $45, respectively.

Rigetti Computing, which Jefferies started with a “hold” rating and $30 price target, is modestly lower. These three quantum computing companies are all down between 40% and 60% from their October all-time highs.

All 13 analysts who cover D-Wave have a “buy” (or equivalent) rating, while 75% of the dozen on Wall Street who have a rating on IonQ recommend the stock.

While the speculative AI-linked stocks continue to largely get crushed, this pocket of the market also favored by retail traders is showing some signs of life.

Chip Stocks Bubble

Chip stocks are in a bubble, at least by this definition, says analyst

The definition of a “bubble” is notoriously difficult to pin down. But these analysts applied a Harvard academic’s rubric and found the shoe fits for some popular tech stocks.

Matt Phillips5h

RadNet tumbles after Hunterbrook Media calls it “the AI story that doesn’t add up” and investment arm announces short position

In investigating the company, “what emerged was a gap between story and substance: a Digital Health business that generates much of its growth by invoicing a different RadNet business line; a same-center sales metric seemingly juiced by undisclosed consolidations; financial disclosures that don’t add up; and insiders using the stock run-up to cash out,” wrote Hunterbrook authors led by Bethany McLean.

AILIS - New Breast Cancer Prediction Technology

markets

Max Knoblauch7h

Frontier sinks as longtime CEO, who regularly feuded with United, suddenly departs

Shares of ultra-budget airline Frontier are down more than 10% on Tuesday morning following the carrier’s announcement that it would replace its longtime CEO, Barry Biffle. Frontier President James Dempsey will fill in as interim CEO.

Biffle, who has been Frontier’s CEO since early 2016, will remain at the airline in an “advisory capacity” until December 31. The move is “not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices,” per a company filing.

Under Biffle, Frontier attempted to acquire rival Spirit twice since 2022 — both unsuccessful. Last week, the carrier’s shares dropped after Spirit’s pilots ratified a lower-paying contract in an effort to keep it afloat through its latest bankruptcy.

Biffle was a staunch defender of the ultra-budget model, which has been falling out of fashion in the US market in recent years. He’s regularly feuded with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby over comments about budget airlines.

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