Rocket Lab’s (RKLB) revenue grew very rapidly in the third quarter, and the firm’s pace of satellite launches is meaningfully accelerating.
Also importantly, the company still looks poised to launch its new, larger rocket, Neutron, in the medium term, although the product’s debut has been delayed slightly. Finally, Rocket Lab remains well-positioned to benefit from the Trump administration’s Golden Dome initiative.
In light of these points, risk-tolerant growth investors should consider buying RKLB stock, despite the name’s high valuation.
RKLB Is Performing at a High Level
The firm’s revenue soared 48% last quarter versus the same period a year earlier to $155 million, and it has contracts for 49 satellite launches, representing a record backlog. Further, as of November 11, RKLB had launched 16 satellites in 2025, the same number as last year’s record performance. During all of 2025, Rocket Lab expects to bring over 20 satellites to space.
RKLB Still Looks Well-Positioned to Benefit From Neutron and Golden Dome
In my previous column on the company, I noted that “Neutron is ‘Capable of carrying significantly larger cargoes to low-Earth orbit than the Electron (RKLB’s current main rocket and ) is expected to propel RKLB into profitability in 2027.” Further, I pointed out that “Neutron could participate in the Pentagon’s National Security Space Launch Lane 1 program which has a huge budget of $5.6 billion over five years.”
Given this information, Neutron is crucial for RKLB’s future. Consequently, it’s important to note that the company intends to bring the rocket “to the (launch) pad in Q1 next year if all goes well, with the first launch thereafter,” CEO Peter Beck reported on the firm’s Q3 earnings call. While the company will not meet its previous target of launching the rocket in 2025, it sounds as though Neutron will enter space by the middle of next year, boding well for the medium-term outlook of RKLB stock.
As I pointed out in the previous article, Beck expects Rocket Lab to be able to contribute to Golden Dome, the Trump administration’s massive missile defense initiative, in multiple ways. He reiterated that point during the recent earnings call, saying “I think we’re in a very strong position to provide critical services” for the project.
The CEO added that “We see nothing but upward trajectory in both government… and commercial launches for Golden Dome.” Moreover, Beck pointed out that the company’s acquisition of Geost, which provides “sensor systems for missile warning and tracking,” increases the extent to which RKLB can benefit from Golden Dome. RKLB closed the acquisition of Geost in Q3.
Likely due in large part to the positive effects that Neutron and Golden Dome will have on Rocket Lab’s 2026 financial results, analysts on average expect the company’s revenue to jump to $902 million in 2026 from $599 million in 2025. What more, the mean outlook calls for its loss per share to narrow sharply to 19 cents in 2026 from 37 cents in 2025.
Valuation and the Bottom Line on RKLB Stock
Rocket Lab has a very high price-book ratio of 21 times. But as Morgan Stanley pointed out last month, the stock is increasingly being seen ” as a publicly traded alternative to Elon Musk’s SpaceX,” while RKLB is also benefiting from investors’ excitement about the space sector. Further, there are relatively few rapidly growing space companies whose shares are publicly listed, while RKLB looks poised to continue expanding quickly.
As a consequence of these points, I believe that, despite RKLB’s high valuation, the shares could be attractive for risk-tolerant growth investors.
*This article is intended to be informational only; it is not financial advice.
