Why Rocket Lab (RKLB) Shares Are Trading Lower Today

What Happened?

Shares of aerospace and defense company Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) fell 3.2% in the afternoon session after Cathie Wood's ARK Invest disclosed the sale of a significant number of shares. 

The prominent investment management firm's ARKX ETF sold 64,326 shares of the aerospace manufacturer, valued at over $3 million. This move by a high-profile investor appeared to prompt a wave of selling and profit-taking. The sale followed a period of massive gains for the stock, which had rallied significantly in the preceding weeks., 

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Rocket Lab? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.

What Is The Market Telling Us

Rocket Lab’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 78 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock gained 3.1% on the news that B of A Securities analyst Ronald Epstein significantly raised the price target for the space company. The analyst increased the price target to $50.00 from $30.00, a substantial 66.67% jump, while maintaining a "Buy" rating on the stock. This boosted investor confidence, signaling a strong belief in the company's future growth and market position. The positive sentiment was echoed by CNBC's Jim Cramer, who recently called Rocket Lab "one of the hottest stocks in the universe" and reiterated his "buy, buy, buy" recommendation. This enthusiasm stems from the company's crucial role in providing launch services and spacecraft manufacturing for a growing number of companies needing to send assets to space.

Rocket Lab is up 85.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $46.20 per share, it is still trading 10.1% below its 52-week high of $51.39 from July 2025.

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