ASTS, RKLB, PL Stocks In Focus As Berenberg Sees $1 Trillion Space Economy — Here’s How It Picks The Winners

• The firm set a price target of $83 for Rocket Lab, implying 36% upside potential.
• Berenberg initiated coverage of AST SpaceMobile with a $92 price target, representing a 65% upside.
• Berenberg highlighted data as Planet Labs’ competitive advantage.

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), Rocket Lab (RKLB) and Planet Labs (PL) were in focus on Wednesday after Berenberg launched coverage of the space sector, saying that falling launch costs are creating a rapidly growing investable universe.

Initiating the three U.S.-listed stocks with a ‘Buy’ rating, analyst Michael Filatov said lower launch costs helped push the space economy past $500 billion in 2025, and the market is now on track to exceed $1 trillion by 2030, according to The Fly.

As the industry expands, Berenberg favors those with “vertically integrated launch” capabilities, which essentially means companies that control more of their own launch supply chain. The brokerage also prefers companies with satellite networks, technologies and capabilities that cannot be easily replicated.

All three stocks were trading lower in pre-market. ASTS stock edged 0.9% lower, PL shares were down 0.8%, while RKLB stock was down nearly 3%.

Berenberg Says RKLB Is An ‘End-To-End Public Pure-Play In Space’

Rocket Lab received an $83 price target, with Filatov calling it the “only end-to-end public pure-play in space,” according to Investing.com. The target represents a 36% upside potential from current levels

The company, which operates its Electron small-orbital launch vehicle, not only launches satellites for the U.S. government and global firms but also maintains its own on-orbit assets and satellite operations.

In June, Rocket Lab built its own Pioneer spacecraft, launched it aboard Electron for the U.S. Space Force and subsequently operated the satellite in orbit.

ASTS’ Telecom Partnerships An Advantage

Berenberg initiated coverage of AST SpaceMobile with a $92 price target, representing a 65% upside. Berenberg highlighted its ability to provide cellular broadband directly to ordinary smartphones and its partnerships with more than 60 mobile network operators covering roughly 3 billion subscribers.

ASTS has also been rapidly building out its constellation. The company launched BlueBirds 8 through 10 in June and another three satellites, BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13, aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 in August.

Data Is Planet Labs’ Differentiator

Meanwhile, Berenberg set a $25 price target for Planet Labs, pointing to a different competitive advantage: data. Filatov said Planet Labs is the only company imaging the entire Earth daily, while its years-long imagery archive would be difficult for rivals to reproduce.

The analyst also sees artificial intelligence unlocking more demand for Planet Labs’ imagery as real-world training data while making its massive archive easier for customers to analyze at scale.

Which Space Stock Has Had The Best 2026?

While retail sentiment surrounding RKLB and ASTS on Stocktwits remained ‘bearish’ over the past 24 hours, sentiment for PL turned ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ a day earlier.

In 2026, ASTS shares have declined by about 18%, RKLB stock has slumped by more than 33%, and PL shares have fallen by around 6%.

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