Rocket Lab Q4 Earnings Preview: Contract Wins, Mission Milestones, Backlog Top Items To Watch

Space company Rocket Lab USA Inc RKLB is expected to report record quarterly financial results when the company reports fourth-quarter financial results after market close Thursday.

Here's a look at the analyst earnings estimates and key items to watch.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Rocket Lab to report fourth-quarter revenue of $130.6 million, up from $60 million in last year's fourth quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in two straight quarters and eight of the last 10 quarters overall. Hitting analyst guidance would mark a new company record and be the third straight quarter with $100 million or more in revenue.

Analysts expect the company to report a loss of 10 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That’s in line with last year's fourth-quarter total of a loss of 10 cents per share. The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in three straight quarters and four of the last five quarters.

Guidance from the company calls for fourth-quarter revenue to be in a range of $125 million to $135 million.

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Key Items to Watch: Rocket Lab has reported several milestones and contract awards since its third-quarter financial results, which puts a big spotlight on the company, which is one of several publicly traded space stocks enjoying a strong 52 weeks.

The company recently announced it achieved critical design for a US Space Force Mission.

Rocket Lab also completed its 60^th Electron launch in February, delivering BlackSky's Gen-3 satellite into orbit.

The company will likely highlight some of these recent contract wins and mission milestones completed in the fourth quarter and the current first quarter.

Investors and analysts will be looking for an update on the company's backlog and timeline for future launches on some of the bigger revenue-driving programs.

"In the third quarter 2024, we once again executed against our end-to-end space strategy with success and key achievements reached across small and medium launch, as well as space systems," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said previously.

Rocket Lab's backlog was $1.05 billion at the end of the third quarter.

After the third quarter results, Rocket Lab announced a satellite deal for an unnamed client. Investors remain curious about who that client might be. They’ll also be looking to see if Rocket Lab uses its earnings day to announce new items.

Analysts raised price targets on the stock ahead of the earnings report. Here are the recent analyst ratings on Rocket Lab and their price targets:

• KeyBanc: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $27 to $32
• Citigroup: Maintained Buy rating, raised price target from $22 to $35
• Goldman Sachs: Maintained Neutral rating, raised price target from $12 to $13.50

Price Action: Rocket Lab stock is up 2.8% to $20.85 on Wednesday, versus a 52-week trading range of $3.47 to $33.34. Rocket Lab stock is down 17% year-to-date in 2025, while shares are up over 350% in the last year.

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