rocket lab Shares rose in after-hours trading after the company reported earnings Third quarter results and announced the first customer for its upcoming Neutron vehicle.
The space infrastructure company’s third-quarter revenue rose to $104.8 million, up 55% from $67.6 million a year earlier and above Wall Street expectations of $102 million, according to analysts surveyed by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Dollar.
Its net loss also increased from a year earlier, to $51.9 million from $40.6 million, but the loss was 10 cents per share, slightly lower than analysts’ expectations of a loss of 11 cents per share.
Rocket Lab forecasts fourth-quarter revenue between $125 million and $135 million. At the midpoint, the company’s revenue this year will be about $430 million.
Additionally, the company announced an agreement for the first launch of its Neutron rocket.
A “confidential commercial satellite constellation operator” signed an agreement to fly two missions in mid-2026, and Rocket Lab said the price of the missions is “consistent with our vehicle goals.” Previously, the company said it had a target price of about $50 million per Neutron launch.
Rocket Lab’s shares rose 25% in after-hours trading, closing at $14.66 per share. The stock has soared over the past three months, nearly tripling in value.
Much of Rocket Lab’s third-quarter revenue growth came from its Space Systems unit, which builds spacecraft and sells satellite parts. The business had revenue of $83.9 million in the quarter, up from $46.3 million a year ago, while its Launch unit’s revenue of $21 million was roughly the same as $21.3 million in the same period last year.
But the company’s small Electron launch vehicle sells for about $8.5 million per mission and has become the third most frequently launched orbital rocket in the world. It has launched 12 missions so far this year, a company record. Rocket Lab added $55 million worth of new launch contracts to Electron’s backlog in the third quarter.
The development of Neutron and the Archimedes engine that powers it remains a key project for investors, and large R&D expenditures are the main reason for Rocket Lab’s quarterly losses.
Neutron is considered critical for Rocket Lab to tap into larger markets, including broader U.S. national security launches. The company still expects Neutron to debut in mid-2025 and outlined various milestones on the rocket’s path to launch, including assembly and testing of the flight hardware, launching “multiple” Archimedes engines and continuing launch pad foundations. work on the facility.
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