Why Rocket Lab stock is falling today
3 mins read

Why Rocket Lab stock is falling today

Rocket Lab is hot off a blockbuster quarterly report. So why is the stock going down?

After explosive gains yesterday, Rocket lab (RKLB -7.91%) the stock comes down to earth a bit in Thursday’s trading. The company’s share price was down 5.3% at 2:45 PM ET.

After the big profit-driven rally for Rocket Lab yesterday, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest company has moved to take some gains on the stock. The high-profile investor isn’t the only one selling shares after yesterday’s huge gains, and the uptick in sell-off action is pushing the stock lower today.

Cathie Wood and others take profits after Rocket Lab’s blockbuster quarter

Ark Invest and its CEO, Cathy Woodhave been among the most vocal champions of Rocket Lab stock, and that confidence paid off with explosive gains for the company’s share price yesterday. Rocket Lab shares closed yesterday’s trade up 28% and had risen as much as 53% earlier in the daily session thanks to stronger-than-expected third-quarter results.

Rocket Lab reported a loss of $0.10 per share on sales of $104.8 million in the third quarter, beating the average Wall Street target’s call for a loss per share of $0.11 on sales of roughly 106 .4 million USD. Revenue was up nearly 55% year over year in the period, and the company also provided strong forward guidance. For the current quarter, the company is guiding for sales between $125 million and $135 million — good for sequential quarterly growth of roughly 24% in the middle of the guidance range.

Following the gains, Ark Invest sold approximately 479,600 shares of the stock across its entire Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF and Ark Space Exploration & Innovation ETF. In all, Wood’s sold nearly $9 million of the company’s stock, and many other investors are also moving to take profits on the stock today.

What’s next for Rocket Lab stock?

While Wood and other investors have been selling Rocket Lab stock, the stock received another round of bullish coverage from analysts today. Cantor Fitzgerald maintained a buy rating on the stock and raised his one-year price target on the stock from $7 per share to $24 per share, citing the company’s contract for use of its reusable neutron rocket with a commercial satellite company. In the meantime, Bank of America raised its one-year price target on Rocket Lab from $10 a share to $30 a share and pointed to adoption of the Neutron rocket as a sign that the stock was becoming less risky.

Overall, Rocket Lab remains a high-risk, high-reward investment, but the company is clearly making some encouraging progress.

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America. The Motley Fool recommends Rocket Lab USA. The Motley Fool has one disclosure policy.