New York, Feb 27, 2026, 05:41 EST — Premarket
Shares of Rocket Lab slid 4.9% to $69.11 ahead of Friday’s open, following fresh delays for the Neutron rocket program. The stock ended the previous session at $72.65.
Late Thursday, the company posted record quarterly revenue at $180 million, alongside a 9 cent per share loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Rocket Lab put out a revenue outlook of $185 million to $200 million for the first quarter, projecting an adjusted EBITDA loss between $21 million and $27 million. Adjusted EBITDA strips out interest, taxes and certain other costs to focus on operating results. Neutron’s debut launch is now slated for the fourth quarter of 2026, postponed after a stage 1 tank test failure. The backlog stood at $1.85 billion at the end of 2025, representing contracted but undelivered work, which includes a $816 million prime contract with the Space Development Agency for 18 satellites.
The Neutron timeline is critical — it’s Rocket Lab’s ticket to the larger launch segment and a key point for investors eager to see the company graduate from its small Electron rocket. Rocket Lab flagged the stakes in its annual report, cautioning that failure to deliver Neutron, or any major holdup, could damage its business and financials.
Rocket Lab pointed to fresh commercial momentum for its Electron launcher, announcing it had secured a new multi-launch contract with BlackSky Technology for four additional dedicated Electron flights. That pushes BlackSky’s total Electron missions since 2019 up to 17. BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole noted the deal would boost Gen-3 on-orbit capacity.
Rocket Lab has wrapped up its acquisition of Optical Support, which manufactures high-precision optical and optomechanical gear for satellite payloads. Michael Savard, who heads Optical Support, said joining forces with Rocket Lab should push their technology “further,” thanks to Rocket Lab’s larger footprint. GlobeNewswire
Rocket Lab announced the acquisition of Precision Components in New Zealand and plans to set up an “Auckland Machine Complex” for high-tolerance Electron and Neutron parts. The company also pointed out that New Zealand has hiked its permitted launches to 1,000—ten times the previous cap—after a regulatory update. GlobeNewswire
Rocket Lab dropped its “space power” pitch alongside the rest of the updates. The company unveiled new silicon solar arrays, designed for future space-based data centers. CEO Peter Beck labeled space-based data centers as “the next frontier” for computing infrastructure. GlobeNewswire
The company flagged progress on its deep-space initiatives, describing the segment as entering a more stable stretch. Rocket Lab announced it has wrapped up commissioning of the twin spacecraft designed for NASA’s ESCAPADE Mars mission. Those craft will stay near the Earth–Sun L2 point until November 2026, then slingshot past Earth to head for Mars.
Traders still show little patience for slipups in launch execution. Rocket Lab called off its suborbital HASTE mission, a hypersonic-test Electron flight, on Feb. 25 after launch commit criteria went “out-of-bounds”—no new date yet, per Space.com. Space
The stock dropped over 4% in after-hours trading Thursday as word of the Neutron delay hit, despite results that actually topped some expectations. Neutron, Rocket Lab’s planned reusable medium-lift rocket, is supposed to put the company up against bigger players—think SpaceX’s Falcon 9—in the launch market.
Still, the risks on the downside haven’t shifted: costs and delays can mount quickly in the launch business. During the earnings call, finance chief Adam Spice noted that negative free cash flow will remain high in the first quarter, with continued investment in Neutron. He added the company “expect[s] Q1 to mark peak Neutron R&D spending.” The Motley Fool
Friday, the focus shifts to whether that early slide sticks as the market fills in, plus how execs keep positioning the Neutron rebuild and launch schedule. TradingView has Rocket Lab’s next earnings marked for May 13, 2026.
