Shares of Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) are down 7.9% to trade at $56.54, at last check, reversing its early morning gains despite officially launching its first dedicated mission over the weekend. The "RAISE and Shine" operation for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is a milestone Electron launch, reinforcing the company's growing role as a reliable partner for international space agencies.
The shares traded as high at nearly $65 out of the gate, but have quickly reversed gains, adding pressure to the $54 level and 50-day moving average. And although the stock is moving further from its Oct. 15 record high of $73.97, RKLB still maintains a 122% year-to-date gain.
RKLB's short interest dropped roughly 11% during the past two reporting periods, and now accounts for 8.6% of the stock's total available float. At RKLB's average pace of daily trading, it would take short sellers more than two sessions to buy back these bearish bets.
Meanwhile, options traders have been more bullish than usual. RKLB’s 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.82 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 76% of readings from the past year.
So far, 49,000 calls have been exchanged today, which is nearly double the number of puts traded and almost twice the average intraday volume. The most popular contract is the December 65 call, with new positions being sold to open here.
