RKLB · Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab in 2024: a first customer for a launch vehicle yet to fly
2024 · +360% in the calendar year
For scale: buying every US stock breakout from 2018 to 2026 with no selection returned a median −22.6% a year later, measured on the 14,674 with a full twelve months of data. How it was measured
Rocket Lab came to market through a SPAC merger and burned cash every quarter. Its Electron vehicle carried small satellites, but the case for a bigger company rested on Neutron, a larger reusable vehicle that had never flown and whose date kept moving. On 12 November 2024 Rocket Lab reported third-quarter results and announced Neutron's first launch agreement, with an unnamed commercial customer. The next day the stock closed up nearly 30%. The share price moved +360% in calendar 2024.
Contracts and revenue kept growing. On 8 May 2026 first-quarter results and a record launch deal lifted the stock 34%, its best day yet, and later that month it set new records, including $139.76 on 23 May after a Space Force contract. In August 2026 the company reported record revenue, but chief executive Peter Beck said the window for a Neutron launch this year was narrowing, and the stock fell as the timetable came into doubt.
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Sources: CNBC, 12 Nov 2024 · CNBC, 8 May 2026 · Foreign Policy Journal, 23 May 2026 · Benzinga, Aug 2026. Price figures are split-adjusted, not dividend-adjusted.
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