Why Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (RKLB) Crashed Last Week

We recently compiled a list of the These 10 Firms Were Last Week’s Worst Performers. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) stands against the other stocks.

Wall Street’s main indices finished firmer on Friday, with all main indices settling in the green territory ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Week-on-week, the Dow eked out a 3.81-percent gain, the S&P rallied 3.79 percent, while the Nasdaq increased by 3.84 percent.

Ten companies from diverse sectors, however, ended Friday weaker, posting notable declines versus the week prior. In this article, let’s look at which firms suffered a bloodbath and the reasons that dragged their performance.

For this week’s list, we only focused on companies with a market capitalization of at least $2 billion and a minimum trading volume of $5 million.

A launch pad atop a grassy hill, smoke filled sky from a successful voyage to space.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Shares of Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) markedly dropped by 10.8 percent week-on-week to close at $24 apiece last Friday from the previous week’s $26.91 finish, as investors repositioned their portfolios amid what appears to be a tightening market competition in the space exploration industry.

This came after billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin successfully launched its New Glenn rocket into orbit on Thursday, just a day after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched its Starship rocket into the sky.

While SpaceX’s launch failed, Blue Origin’s launch success fueled investors’ concerns of an increasing market competition that can put pressure on small competitors like Rocket Lab.

For this year, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) is expected to debut its Neutron rocket, which it has been developing since 2021. At $50 million to $55 million per launch, Neutron is set to rake in revenues and profits that would pave the way for its growth.

Overall RKLB ranks 9th on our list of last week’s worst performers. While we acknowledge the potential of RKLB as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than RKLB but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.