Rocket Lab (RKLB) - Finally a decent space company that we can invest in?

[Herbert Derp]

Astra just announced a $100M capital raise. This was inevitable, given the trajectory of their cash burn as we have discussed previously in this topic. At the current market cap, this represents a 25% dilution. However it looks like they are capping the capital raise at 20% dilution, so they won't be able to raise all $100M unless the share price rises.

Astra lost $85M in Q1 2022. At the rate they are burning through cash, $100M won't last them for very long. If they can't get any revenue going soon expect more capital raises in the future. Unfortunately, their dwindling market cap is making capital raises increasingly difficult.

Astra needs successful launches, and they need them now. If Astra’s launches keep failing, this could further devalue the company and put them in a dire position where they cannot raise the capital needed to survive.

[Herbert Derp]

Rocket Lab has announced that they are going to hold an investor presentation on September 21, 2022 focused on progress the Company has made since its de-SPAC in August 2021, its current roadmap, development of the Neutron launch vehicle, and future growth opportunities.

I guess the market sees this as a vote of confidence, because Rocket Lab stock is up by over 9% on the news. Looking forward to the earnings report on August 11th and then the investor presentation a month later!

[Herbert Derp]

In other news, Masten Space Systems filed for bankruptcy last week. They will be selling some of their assets to a competitor in a last-ditch effort to survive.

Let this be a warning to all who invest in the new space race. Consolidation is inevitable, and many of these space startups are going to crash and burn!

That being said, Rocket Lab is in a fantastic financial position compared to much of the competition. They are not at risk for bankruptcy over the next few years. Furthermore, Rocket Lab has growing revenues and has a good chance to become one of the first space startups to stop burning cash and start turning a profit. If they can demonstrate tangible progress towards profitability in their upcoming presentations, expect the stock price to skyrocket!

Rocket Lab’s strategy of going public in order to provide currency for acquisitions really does seem like a stroke of genius. If Rocket Lab can continue to distinguish themselves and stay ahead of the competition, they stand to make out like a bandit as the crowded space industry enters an inevitable consolidation phase. Rocket Lab may have the pick of the litter as various assets and companies go on sale at steep discounts!

As long as Rocket Lab stays ahead of the competition and maintains a comparably high market cap, they can enter into a virtuous cycle where they are able to use the heft of their market cap to issue stock and make acquisitions without even dipping into their cash reserves. These acquisitions will grow the company and pave the way for future acquisitions. It’s a snowball effect, and it seems like a brilliant strategy to follow when you are an industry leader in a crowded space that is primed for consolidation. Peter Beck’s strategy is really coming clear, and I am eager to see how it unfolds.

Competitors like Masten Space Systems and Astra are too focused on not going out of business and have no hope of executing Rocket Lab’s strategy. SpaceX and Blue Origin are so well funded that they are not very interested in acquisitions and prefer to build everything in-house. I’m curious to see how Rocket Lab’s acquisition based growth strategy will stack up to SpaceX and Blue Origin’s in-house growth strategies. Rocket Lab is setting themselves up to accomplish big things with much less resources than SpaceX and Blue Origin, but they run the risk of making bad acquisitions that are difficult to integrate into a coherent whole and lead to less synergistic growth.

[Herbert Derp]

Mission success! Rocket Lab now has six successful launches this year, for a total of nine consecutive successful launches since the last failure.

A few recent articles I saw about investing in Rocket Lab:

Rocket Lab Vs. SpaceX: Buy 2nd Place For 98% Less

Rocket Lab Is Red-Hot -- So Why Is Its Stock Ice-Cold?

Rocket Lab continues to show consistent execution despite the downward trend in the stock price. Personally, I think this stock is due for some big upward moves. It really depends on how the upcoming earnings report and investor presentation go.

That being said, I don’t recommend investing in this stock until we get greater clarity on Rocket Lab’s progress towards profitability. There’s still too many unknowns here.

[Viking Thor]

Thanks for all the updates they are very interesting to follow.

[Herbert Derp]

More consolidation! Satellite communications company SES is at the center of a bunch of recent mergers and acquisitions. I think SES and their peers might be in trouble, they are going to have a really rough time competing with Starlink which seems superior to their offerings.

SES closes $450 million acquisition of DRS’ satellite communications business

Consolidation wave pushes rivals SES and Intelsat into merger talks

[Herbert Derp]

Astra just reported their Q2 2022 financial results. After their latest failure with Rocket 3, Astra seems to have given up and cancelled the Rocket 3 program. This is basically admitting that Rocket 3 was never going to be an economical design. Chris Kemp even admitted in the earnings call that the market for Rocket 3 never materialized, satellites are getting larger, and customers are looking for larger rockets. Astra has re-manifested all payloads to Rocket 4, which is still under development and might not have its first launch until 2024, when Rocket Lab's Neutron is supposed to have its first launch.

As a result, Astra has no additional launches scheduled this year. Astra has admitted that they might not even launch anything next year, either. On the financial side, Astra lost another $82M last quarter! The company currently has $104M in cash on hand. The stock is down 4.24% today and an additional 13.21% after hours. This looks grim.

Astra has spent five years and $300M developing a rocket and engines they are not going to use. Now they will develop a completely new rocket, with engines where the intellectual property is owned by another company. But they only have enough cash to last one more quarter—two quarters if you count the new funds they are raising. Their last ditch effort seems to be to stop the bleeding by cancelling their rocket program, but by doing so they are also cancelling the revenue stream which was supposed to bring them to profitability.

By the time Rocket 4 flies—if it ever flies—Astra’s competition will have further established themselves. Astra continues to burn cash and has abandoned any chance of earning significant revenues for at least the next two years. At this point, Astra's sole source of revenue is the sale of their Apollo Fusion spacecraft engines, which currently amounts to less than a paltry $3M per quarter. Rocket Lab will spend the next two years growing their revenues and expanding their business even further. Who knows, Rocket Lab might even be profitable by then! There is no way to portray this in a positive light for Astra. The business model and growth plan Astra presented in their original investor presentation has been abandoned and is officially a failure.

At least Rocket Lab is up another 5.83% today. They are up 19.52% over the last five days. Go Rocket Lab!

[alcon835]

Glad I dropped ASTRA last year. As the saying goes, rockets are hard....

[Herbert Derp]

It's also worth pointing out that Astra currently has a $343.40M market cap, approximately $200M of which (58%!) is represented by their cash and the funds they just raised. Once they run out of cash, how much will the company still be worth? What are their chances of raising additional funds at that point?

[Herbert Derp]

After the failure of Astra, I've been thinking more about the viability of small launch vehicles. Did you know that Virgin Orbit has flown nothing but CubeSat rideshare missions? Combined with their low launch cadence, it indicates that there is a severe demand problem for Virgin Orbit.

Furthermore, rumors that Electron is not profitable continue to swirl around the Internet. I hope that Rocket Lab can provide some more clarity on this issue. Will Electron reusability solve the problem?

[Herbert Derp]

Saw a great article on Ars Technica today:
Rocket Lab’s launch cadence now “100 percent” driven by market demand

Peter Beck has admitted in a recent interview that there is only enough demand in the market for 10-15 Electron launches per year, and this may not ever change. Rocket Lab can currently build an Electron in just 18 days, and their facilities are designed to manufacture and launch one Electron per week. But the demand simply isn't there! The small launch market segment is dead on arrival and companies with a business model based on small launches are also doomed unless they can pivot to larger launch vehicles or other segments of the space industry.

It is very encouraging that Rocket Lab understands that there is a demand problem and is making great strides in pivoting away from small launch compared to competitors like Astra and Virgin Orbit. Astra and Virgin Orbit are likely doomed. Astra's Rocket 4 is still too small and will be dead on arrival even if they survive long enough to actually launch it. Virgin Orbit has no demand, no clear path to a larger rocket, and no progress towards pivoting away from a launch-centric business model.

Update - Peter Beck has clarified some of his statements that were used in that article.

The demand is there and growing steadily, but the customer readiness has lagged more than expected. In general, the rockets are often ready before the spacecraft are, which is part of the reason for our move into space systems to help streamline the spacecraft build and launch for our customers, making it faster and more cost-effective to get hardware on orbit. As for the future demand of Electron, launch cadence will be dictated by customer readiness, but we absolutely see potential for this to exceed 10 to 15 launched per year. Some single customers are seeking that many launches alone.

This is much more encouraging, I hope he is right!

[Herbert Derp]

If anyone is interested in what Relativity Space is doing, check out this awesome NASASpaceflight interview with their CEO from yesterday:
NSF Live: 3D Printing Rockets with Relativity CEO Tim Ellis

I'm super excited about what Relativity Space is doing. Tim Ellis is definitely in the running to become the next Elon Musk. It is amazing to see how much such a young person has accomplished so far. The most interesting things I heard in the interview is that Relativity Space sees their 3D printing technology as a key competitive advantage and has no plans to sell it to any other company. Instead, they want to use their manufacturing technology to manufacture different things in the aerospace industry such as aircraft, and disrupt other parts of the aerospace industry. I think Tim Ellis has his eyes set on Boeing and Airbus!

It’s worth pointing out that Tim Ellis mentioned Rocket Lab multiple times in the interview. Rocket Lab, SpaceX, and Blue Origin are the only space companies that he mentioned, which shows that he sees Rocket Lab as a more serious competitor than other companies. The interviewers did not specifically ask Tim about Rocket Lab, he brought them up on his own. On Rocket Lab, Tim had four things to say:

• [21:53] Even with Neutron, New Glenn, and Falcon 9 fully operational, he sees a huge demand in the market that all of those vehicles combined will be unable to address on their own. He claims there is a 2:1 to 3:1 demand to supply deficit in the medium and heavy launch segment, even with the announced future plans of all companies. He says there is 20 times more demand for Terran R than Terran One [26:05].
• [1:01:37] He believes that parachute recovery of Electron will work, but it seems like too little return for too much investment, and he thinks the engineering hours could be better spent elsewhere.
• [1:02:16] He thinks Rocket Lab could have aimed bigger with Neutron and that it is still “small”.
• [49:13] Relativity Space has no plans to operate any satellite constellations or manufacture satellites or satellite components and hence won’t compete with Rocket Lab in that area.

[AlanStache]

Saw a great article on Ars Technica today:
Peter Beck explains why Electron may only ever launch 10-15 times a year

Peter Beck has admitted in a recent interview that there is only enough demand in the market for 10-15 Electron launches per year, and this may not ever change. Rocket Lab can currently build an Electron in just 18 days, and their facilities are designed to manufacture and launch one Electron per week. But the demand simply isn't there! The small launch market segment is dead on arrival and companies with a business model based on small launches are also doomed unless they can pivot to larger launch vehicles or other segments of the space industry.

It is very encouraging that Rocket Lab understands that there is a demand problem and is making great strides in pivoting away from small launch compared to competitors like Astra and Virgin Orbit. Astra and Virgin Orbit are likely doomed. Astra's Rocket 4 is still too small and will be dead on arrival even if they survive long enough to actually launch it. Virgin Orbit has no demand, no clear path to a larger rocket, and no progress towards pivoting away from a launch-centric business model.

Update - Peter Beck has clarified some of his statements that were used in that article.

The demand is there and growing steadily, but the customer readiness has lagged more than expected. In general, the rockets are often ready before the spacecraft are, which is part of the reason for our move into space systems to help streamline the spacecraft build and launch for our customers, making it faster and more cost-effective to get hardware on orbit. As for the future demand of Electron, launch cadence will be dictated by customer readiness, but we absolutely see potential for this to exceed 10 to 15 launched per year. Some single customers are seeking that many launches alone.

This is much more encouraging, I hope he is right!

How much of this is aimed at would be investors of his competition?  Am being some what rhetorical here, I dont have 100mm to put into a rocket startup :-(

[Herbert Derp]

How much of this is aimed at would be investors of his competition?  Am being some what rhetorical here, I dont have 100mm to put into a rocket startup :-(

Not much, I would assume most of what Peter Beck says publicly is aimed at Rocket Lab investors as he depends on them to raise money. Investors of the competition, not so much.

[Herbert Derp]

Since we’ve been on the topic of demand, here is a graph from Wikipedia showing the amount of tiny satellites launched over time. It looks like the number of tiny satellites is increasing sharply over time. I bet that this is the data that Astra and Virgin Orbit used as the basis for their revenue growth projections. However, demand doesn’t seem to be increasing along with the number of satellites. I wonder how many of these will end up going up on Falcon 9 rideshares?

[PDXTabs]

I appreciate your continued updating of this thread. I currently have three lots of RKLB shares with an average share price of $4.70 so ATM I'm above water. I can't say the same about my ASTR.

[Herbert Derp]

I wish my RKLB cost basis was so low! Truly, I was Too Soon on this one!

By the way, I sold all of my ASTR at a huge loss after their earnings report last week. I truly believe the company is headed for failure and can no longer justify holding any of their shares.

[BicycleB]

I appreciate your continued updating of this thread. I currently have three lots of RKLB shares with an average share price of $4.70 so ATM I'm above water. I can't say the same about my ASTR.

Well done, @PDXTabs!

I have multiple lots but a cost of about $6.50, so slightly under water. RKLB performance to date for me is now close to S&P since my purchases, I think. Lost another few hundred dollars on ASTR but sold a while back.

An informative experience. Still learning.

[Herbert Derp]

I hope at the very least we can all learn a lot about the space industry by participating in this thread. Space is awesome!!!

[PDXTabs]

I appreciate your continued updating of this thread. I currently have three lots of RKLB shares with an average share price of $4.70 so ATM I'm above water. I can't say the same about my ASTR.

Well done, @PDXTabs!

I have multiple lots but a cost of about $6.50, so slightly under water. RKLB performance to date for me is now close to S&P since my purchases, I think. Lost another few hundred dollars on ASTR but sold a while back.

An informative experience. Still learning.

@Herbert Derp and BicycleB, I promise you that it was by complete accident that I'm currently in the black. I purchased when I had the money to spend. My first lot was for $10 in the SPAC, but my second and third lots were in July 2022 after I sold a house (obviously 90% of the house proceeds went into boring index funds).

[Scandium]

I appreciate your continued updating of this thread. I currently have three lots of RKLB shares with an average share price of $4.70 so ATM I'm above water. I can't say the same about my ASTR.

Well done, @PDXTabs!

I have multiple lots but a cost of about $6.50, so slightly under water. RKLB performance to date for me is now close to S&P since my purchases, I think. Lost another few hundred dollars on ASTR but sold a while back.

An informative experience. Still learning.

Made me curious to check mine; price at $7.30, so quite a bit in the red. Guess I should buy more <$5.50 to bring it down ;)
And some of that is a few $5 puts I sold that "accidentally" executed, ops..

[Herbert Derp]

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting bullish article on Rocket Lab today:
Unlike Other Former SPACs, Rocket Lab Is Already Science, Not Fiction

Rocket Lab really has distinguished themselves from the competition. They have reliable, working technology, large cash reserves, minimal cash burn, and significant revenues which are growing over time.

[Herbert Derp]

It turns out that after Astra cancelled Rocket 3, NASA is looking for a new launch provider for its TROPICS constellation. TROPICS has specific orbit requirements needed to meet its science goals. That orbit, though, is not commonly used by other spacecraft, ruling out rideshare opportunities. There were three contenders in the original bid to launch TROPICS: Rocket Lab, Astra and SpaceX. Rocket Lab was rejected only on price. Now that Astra is out of the running, it looks like Rocket Lab might be the second cheapest option. This could be the first direct evidence that Astra's demise means more business being funneled to Rocket Lab!

In other news, Peter Beck claims that NASA has assured him that the AFTS software will be ready for the Wallops launch in December. Rocket Lab will be shipping an Electron to Virginia later this month. Fingers crossed for no more delays on getting the 3rd launch pad up and running!

[Herbert Derp]

Rocket Lab has posted their Q2 2022 financial results. You can find the webcast and presentation slides of the earnings call here.

There's not a lot to report, it seems to be mostly business as usual. Rocket Lab did not announce any new contracts, and their business backlog actually decreased by $14.5M to $531.4M due to more revenue being realized than was added to the backlog. Revenue for Q2 was $55.5M, up 36% from $40.7M last quarter. Rocket Lab had a net loss of $37.4M in Q2 2022, up from $26.7M last quarter. Rocket Lab currently has $542.5M in cash on hand. Rocket Lab's current cash burn rate is around $130M per year, which gives them over four years of cash remaining before they run out of funds.

I am disappointed that Rocket Lab didn't close on any big new contracts over the past few months. In their conference call, Rocket Lab said they are pursuing multiple contracts, and blamed the lack of new signed contracts on a "lumpy" contract signing process. I am curious if we will see any contracts for deep-space probes in the future--Rocket Lab is touting their ability to construct and launch cost effective deep-space probes such as the Lunar Photon. Deep-space probes used to cost hundreds of millions to billions of dollars and take decades to develop, Rocket Lab is claiming they design and execute deep-space probe missions with tens of millions of dollars over a matter of months.

It is good to see that Rocket Lab's revenues are growing in line with their original projections. Rocket Lab has realized $96.2M in revenue in the first half of the year, putting them well on track to exceed $200M in revenue in 2022. This is actually greater than their original projection of $176M in revenue in 2022:

Original Rocket Lab Revenue Projections
2021: $69M ($49M launch, $20M space systems)
2022: $176M ($115M launch, $61M space systems)
2023: $267M ($141M launch, $126M space systems)
2024: $450M ($232M launch, $218M space systems)
2025: $749M ($399M launch, $350M space systems)

Overall, I am glad to see the Rocket Lab's revenue growth remains in-line with and is even exceeding their original projections. Certainly, the same cannot be said for the likes of Astra, Virgin Orbit, and Virgin Galactic. Also unlike those companies, Rocket Lab has about four years of cash left and no risk of bankruptcy. However, I don't see any huge news here that will propel the stock price forward. We will need to see some good new contracts added to Rocket Lab's backlog, the successful reuse of an Electron booster, or very encouraging progress on Neutron for that to happen.

In terms of achieving profitability, this is what Rocket Lab had to say on the conference call about improving their gross margins:

I think the real important focus item for us to achieving and maintaining healthy gross margins on space systems is really around implementing some of the things that we know we need to do on the SolAero side of the business. That brought with it gross margins that when we acquired the company was in the high single digits gross margins and we have a path and a target to get to 30 points of gross margin for that business. When we achieve that, it will land us exactly where we want to be. I think we know what we need to do, it's just a matter of time. When we did the SolAero acquisition we said it was about a 24 month path to get from where they were to where we want to go. Nothing is really pushing off of that view. We remain encouraged by the fact that the new business that we sign up continues to come in at higher gross margins than what existed in the existing backlog when we closed the deal in January. All the indicators are pointing in the right direction that we can achieve the margin targets that we are hoping for in space systems and on the launch side.

I'm curious what exactly Rocket Lab's plans are for SolAero. Keep in mind that since SolAero accounts for a large chunk of Rocket Lab's revenues. Rocket Lab said that revenue from the acquired companies SolAero, Advanced Solutions Inc, and Planetary Systems Corporation was $28M this quarter, and the vast majority (> $20M?) was from SolAero. Therefore, increasing the gross margin to 30% on SolAero revenue is a really big deal! Combined with other profitability initiatives such as Electron reuse, this could easily put Rocket Lab on the path to profitability, which will be huge! I will be sure to pay attention to what they say over the next conference calls so I can hold them to this statement.

Rocket Lab also said that for their new Responsive Space Program, the cost per launch is 15-30% higher than the typical Electron launch price of $7.5M, and the vast majority of that 15-30% markup goes directly to gross margin since most of their launch costs are fixed costs. Between the Responsive Space Program and Electron reuse, I see a clear path to increasing the gross margins of Electron!

[Herbert Derp]

It looks like the market has reacted positively to Rocket Lab's earnings, because the stock has surged over 20% today on the news! Apparently they beat analyst expectations for revenue by 12.66%, which is great.

[PathtoFIRE]

Yay! Another 41% and I'll be back to break even!

[Herbert Derp]

Welcome to the struggle bus! My cost basis is at $13.11.

[Michael in ABQ]

My cost basis is $12.08. However, that's for 6 shares. So, I made a whopping $7 today with that 21% jump. I basically just used what was leftover in a taxable brokerage account a while back to purchase it.

[CurledMoss]

I've heard of money pits and a pit will eventually fill up, right? But space... It's an infinite money pit!

[Herbert Derp]

I've heard of money pits and a pit will eventually fill up, right? But space... It's an infinite money pit!

There's a lot of money to be made in outer space.

[PDXTabs]

I've heard of money pits and a pit will eventually fill up, right? But space... It's an infinite money pit!

There's a lot of money to be made in outer space.

OMG, best case $30/kg by 2040. By 2040 I might be able to buy a microsat to taunt my enemies and have it launched into orbit and it won't even put a dent in my stache.

[alcon835]

Reading all these red days I went to check my cost basis and...I'm in the black! I got lucky, I suppose. In June, I came into a significant one-time bonus and increased my position in Rocket Lab by 179% and dropped my cost basis down to $6.70!!

Still, everything purchased before June is sitting in the red. Things need to hit $10 to gain profits on most of my positions, and we need to hit $16 before I am 100% in the black. A ways to go, for sure, but I didn't invest in this company for short-term gains. 2025 here we come!

[Herbert Derp]

In response to last week's news, Deutsche Bank just raised their price target for Rocket Lab to $15! Wells Fargo also initiated coverage at $5 per share back in June, but the average price target for Rocket Lab is still $15.80.

The price targets are now:

• 08/15/2022, Deutsche Bank, $15
• 06/21/2022, Wells Fargo, $5
• 05/18/2022, Morgan Stanley, $16
• 03/01/2022, Stifel, $23
• 02/23/2022, Roth Capital, $20
• 11/30/2021, B of A Securities, $20
• 09/13/2021, Cowen & Co., $18
• 09/09/2021, Canaccord Genuity, $30

You can also view a live summary of the analyst ratings here:
https://www.benzinga.com/quote/RKLB/analyst-ratings

[Herbert Derp]

In new news, Rocket Lab has just announced their next mission, with the launch window opening in mid-September! This is Rocket Lab's 30th launch, and will deliver Rocket Lab's 150th payload to space for Earth-imaging satellite constellation operator Synspective. The mission is the second of a bulk buy of three Electron launches by Synspective to deliver their StriX satellites to low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab is really hitting their stride with a monthly launch cadence.

Meanwhile, Virgin Orbit has reduced their launch forecast to just four missions this year. This is troubling news for Virgin Orbit, they clearly have a demand problem. Rocket Lab's lead over competitors Virgin Orbit and Astra is indisputable at this point.

[BicycleB]

Quartz’s Space Business website / newsletter recently released its “Power Rankings” of small rocket companies. Rocket Lab ranked number one!

Each company’s description seems insightful, accurate per articles in this thread, and contains a pithy “vibe” summary.

https://qz.com/emails/space-business/1849390218/space-business-rocket-power-rankings/

[Herbert Derp]

Cool article!

I gleaned a few interesting tidbits from a recent presentation Rocket Lab gave at the Canaccord Genuity 42nd Annual Growth Conference.

Rocket Lab apparently could have done their previous launch for the NRO as a recovery mission, but the window of the responsive launch meant that they didn't have time to install the reusability hardware on the rocket.

Rocket Lab's vertical integration of satellite components allows them to remove bottlenecks for customers by prioritizing the manufacturing of Rocket Lab satellite components for Rocket Lab customers. This way, customers won't be stuck waiting months for their reaction wheels, etc.

[Herbert Derp]

In new news, Astra's stock has dipped below $1 per share and is now at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq. If Astra’s stock price trades below $1 for 30 consecutive business days, the company will be notified that it is non-compliant with Nasdaq listing requirements. It will be given 180 calendar days to become compliant. If, after 180 days, the company is still not compliant, it will be notified that its company will be delisted. The company may be allowed another 180 calendar days under specific circumstances. With no commercial launches this year or probably next, it's difficult to see what might make Astra's stock increase in value in the coming months, outside of a large outside investment, or significant sales of its in-space thruster.

Yesterday, SpaceX sent ripples through the telecommunications industry by announcing that Starlink will soon be able to provide service to cellphones and Tesla vehicles. SpaceX's new "Starlink v2.0" satellites will be able to connect directly to cell phones and vehicles on the ground, anywhere in the world. This is huge, and competitors like AST Space Mobile and Lynk Global will be scrambling to launch their own constellations to compete.

Following the success of Rocket Lab's moon mission, the company has been getting increased press coverage for its upcoming Venus mission which is currently scheduled for May 2023. This may be the first ever privately funded science mission to another planet! I hope Rocket Lab gets more customers signed up to buy space probes!

[PDXTabs]

In new news, Astra's stock has dipped below $1 per share and is now at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq. If Astra’s stock price trades below $1 for 30 consecutive business days, the company will be notified that it is non-compliant with Nasdaq listing requirements. It will be given 180 calendar days to become compliant. If, after 180 days, the company is still not compliant, it will be notified that its company will be delisted. The company may be allowed another 180 calendar days under specific circumstances. With no commercial launches this year or probably next, it's difficult to see what might make Astra's stock increase in value in the coming months, outside of a large outside investment, or significant sales of its in-space thruster.

Isn't a reverse split the most likely outcome?

[alcon835]

In new news, Astra's stock has dipped below $1 per share and is now at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq. If Astra’s stock price trades below $1 for 30 consecutive business days, the company will be notified that it is non-compliant with Nasdaq listing requirements. It will be given 180 calendar days to become compliant. If, after 180 days, the company is still not compliant, it will be notified that its company will be delisted. The company may be allowed another 180 calendar days under specific circumstances. With no commercial launches this year or probably next, it's difficult to see what might make Astra's stock increase in value in the coming months, outside of a large outside investment, or significant sales of its in-space thruster.

Isn't a reverse split the most likely outcome?

Unless they can pull off a miracle, I don't see how they can do anything other than a reverse split followed by dilution to earn some cash to keep them alive and stay on the Nasdaq so they can keep bringing in cash through more and more dilution.

[Scandium]

Had some cash lying around, bough another 100 shares at $5.18! Promptly dropped below $5! Lol.

Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk

[Herbert Derp]

Isn't a reverse split the most likely outcome?

Yes, I think that’s the most likely outcome. I don’t expect the company to be delisted. It seems more probable to me that Astra will go bankrupt before they are delisted.

[Herbert Derp]

Check out this picture of the recently recovered Electron booster shared by Peter Beck. This is the most detailed image of a recovered Electron to date. Here is an earlier image of the same booster, showing just the engines. The condition looks fairly good for being dunked in the ocean! I wonder what a helicopter-caught Electron will look like?

[Herbert Derp]

Analysts continue to be bullish on Rocket Lab. The stock is up today because Cowen published a report recognizing Rocket Lab as an industry leader which has distinguished itself from the competition.

Articles:
Rocket Lab could surge 55% as leader in launch market, Cowen says

Time to Buy This SpaceX Peer, Says Analyst

[Scandium]

Analysts continue to be bullish on Rocket Lab. The stock is up today because Cowen published a report recognizing Rocket Lab as an industry leader which has distinguished itself from the competition.

Articles:
Rocket Lab could surge 55% as leader in launch market, Cowen says

Time to Buy This SpaceX Peer, Says Analyst

I saw the first article. Surge 55%? So back to a whole $8?? Lol. Still way down from the high. I'd hope it would do more then that

[alcon835]

Analysts continue to be bullish on Rocket Lab. The stock is up today because Cowen published a report recognizing Rocket Lab as an industry leader which has distinguished itself from the competition.

Articles:
Rocket Lab could surge 55% as leader in launch market, Cowen says

Time to Buy This SpaceX Peer, Says Analyst

I saw the first article. Surge 55%? So back to a whole $8?? Lol. Still way down from the high. I'd hope it would do more then that

I'm sure it'll depend entirely on timeline. On a 1-year time horizon, 55% is pretty darn bullish. On a 10-year time horizon, it's pretty ridiculously behind where RKLB needs to be be....

[Herbert Derp]

I'm sure it'll depend entirely on timeline. On a 1-year time horizon, 55% is pretty darn bullish. On a 10-year time horizon, it's pretty ridiculously behind where RKLB needs to be be....

Analyst price targets are for a 12-18 month time horizon.

[joe189man]

CNN Money puts them at a 12 month forecast median price of $13.50

https://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=RKLB

[Herbert Derp]

Rocket Lab just posted a video of them test firing one of the Rutherford engines that they fished out of the ocean. Pretty cool! I wonder when one of these engines will go back to space?

[Herbert Derp]

New news! Rocket Lab has signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. military to explore the possibility of using the company’s space launch vehicles to transport cargo around the world. The U.S. military has signed similar agreements with SpaceX and Blue Origin.

https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-signs-on-to-u-s-militarys-rocket-cargo-program/

[alcon835]

New news! Rocket Lab has signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. military to explore the possibility of using the company’s space launch vehicles to transport cargo around the world. The U.S. military has signed similar agreements with SpaceX and Blue Origin.

https://spacenews.com/rocket-lab-signs-on-to-u-s-militarys-rocket-cargo-program/

Very, very cool. And also, is this another punch in the gut for Astra? Wasn't this exact use case one of their biggest drivers to market?