New York, Feb 27, 2026, 05:41 EST — Premarket
Rocket Lab’s shares were down 4.9% at $69.11 in premarket trading on Friday, after the space company detailed another schedule slip for its Neutron rocket. The stock last closed at $72.65. 1
The company late Thursday reported record quarterly revenue of $180 million and a loss of 9 cents per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Rocket Lab forecast first-quarter revenue of $185 million to $200 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $21 million to $27 million; adjusted EBITDA is a measure of operating profit that strips out interest, tax and some other items. It also said Neutron’s first launch is now targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026 after a stage 1 tank test failure, and it ended 2025 with a $1.85 billion backlog — contracted work not yet delivered — including an $816 million Space Development Agency prime contract to build 18 satellites. 2
The Neutron timeline matters because it is the company’s bridge into a bigger launch market, and a big draw for investors who want Rocket Lab to move beyond its smaller Electron rocket. In its annual report, the company warned that an inability to develop Neutron — or significant delays — could hurt its business and results. 3
Rocket Lab also flagged new commercial work tied to its core Electron launcher. It said it signed another multi-launch deal with BlackSky Technology for four dedicated Electron missions, taking the total number of Electron launches for BlackSky since 2019 to 17; BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole said the contract would help increase Gen-3 on-orbit capacity. 4
On the space-systems side, Rocket Lab said it completed the acquisition of Optical Support, a maker of high-precision optical and optomechanical instruments used in satellite payloads. Optical Support President Michael Savard said the combination should help take its technology “further” by tapping Rocket Lab’s scale. 5
The company also said it bought Precision Components in New Zealand and will establish an “Auckland Machine Complex” to produce high-tolerance parts for Electron and for Neutron. Rocket Lab said New Zealand recently increased permitted launches tenfold to 1,000 after updating launch regulations. 6
Rocket Lab’s “space power” pitch landed in the same batch of announcements. It said it introduced silicon solar arrays aimed at powering future space-based data centers, and CEO Peter Beck called space-based data centers “the next frontier” for computing infrastructure. 7
The company also pointed to deep-space work it says is now moving into a steadier phase. Rocket Lab said it completed commissioning of the twin spacecraft it built for NASA’s ESCAPADE Mars mission; the spacecraft will operate near the Earth–Sun L2 point until November 2026 before an Earth gravity assist sends them toward Mars. 8
Launch execution is still the thing traders treat as unforgiving. Rocket Lab scrubbed a Feb. 25 suborbital HASTE mission — a hypersonic-test version of Electron — due to “out-of-bounds launch commit criteria,” and has not set a new date, Space.com reported. 9
In after-hours trading on Thursday, the stock slid more than 4% as investors digested the Neutron delay, even with results that came in better than some had penciled in. Neutron is meant to be a reusable, medium-lift rocket that would put Rocket Lab into competition for missions typically flown on larger vehicles such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. 10
But the downside case has not changed much: delays and spending can pile up fast in rocketry. On the earnings call, finance chief Adam Spice said the company expects negative free cash flow to stay elevated in the first quarter as it invests in Neutron, and that it “expect[s] Q1 to mark peak Neutron R&D spending.” 11
For Friday’s session, traders will watch whether the premarket dip holds once volumes hit and how management keeps framing the Neutron rebuild and flight cadence. TradingView lists Rocket Lab’s next quarterly report for May 13, 2026. 12
