Rocket Lab Stock Jumps Ahead Of Upcoming Electron Launch

Rocket Lab Corp (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares are trading higher Thursday afternoon as investors position ahead of the company’s first dedicated launch for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Here’s what investors need to know.

What To Know: The mission, dubbed “Raise and Shine,” has a launch window no earlier than Dec. 7 from New Zealand, marking an expansion of Rocket Lab’s government contract portfolio. The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday evening, but has since been delayed due to unfavorable weather conditions.

This scheduled launch, Rocket Lab’s 19th Electron mission of 2025, comes amidst a flurry of bullish analyst activity. Needham reiterated a Buy rating with a $63 price target, while Bank of America recently raised its target to $60, citing the company’s accelerating launch cadence and the upcoming debut of its medium-lift Neutron rocket in the first quarter of 2026.

Market sentiment remains resilient despite competitive pressure from SpaceX. While Elon Musk recently claimed on X that Starship could eventually carry “99% of all Earth payload,” data shared by investor Steve Jurvetson highlights Rocket Lab’s firm grip on the alternative market.

The report notes Rocket Lab currently holds 97% of U.S. small launch payload share (excluding SpaceX), recently surpassing the Israel Defense Forces in global rankings.

With the JAXA mission set to deploy the RAISE-4 satellite and a second dedicated launch planned for 2026, Rocket Lab continues to solidify its status as the primary public-market competitor to SpaceX’s dominance.

Benzinga Edge Rankings: Underscoring this positive market activity, Benzinga Edge rankings currently assign the stock a high Momentum score of 92.79.

RKLB Price Action: Rocket Lab shares were up 9.51% at $48.96 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Currently, Rocket Lab is trading approximately 10.6% below its 50-day moving average, which suggests that while the recent price action is positive, the stock has not yet regained its short-term momentum.

In contrast, it is trading approximately 29.9% above its 200-day moving average, indicating a longer-term bullish trend that may provide a solid foundation for future growth.

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How To Buy RKLB Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Rocket Lab’s case, it is in the Industrials sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

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