Cathie Wood Sells RKLB Amid SpaceX IPO Buzz – But Pullback Has Retail Talking About $500 Targets Again

• The firm simultaneously rotated into AI, biotech and defense names including Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Tempus AI, Circle Internet Group and Intellia Therapeutics.
• Cathie Wood said that demand for a future SpaceX IPO is “voracious” and warned the listing could trigger a major supply-demand imbalance and early volatility.
• Rocket Lab reported strong Q1 results with revenue rising 63.5% to $200.3 million, and backlog surpassing $2 billion.

Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) slid over 4% in overnight trading on Tuesday after Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest dumped shares of the space company just as excitement around SpaceX’s potential IPO and “voracious” investor demand reached a fever pitch.

RKLB stock jumped over 11% on Monday to end at $117.35, recording its second straight session in the green. 

ARK Dumps RKLB Amid SpaceX IPO Buzz

ARK Invest sold 23,237 Rocket Lab shares through the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ) and another 9,792 shares through the ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX) on Monday, according to the firm’s latest trading disclosures.

Meanwhile, ARK rotated capital into several AI, biotech and defense firms. ARKQ bought 128,970 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and 61,209 shares of Kodiak AI, while ARKX added 54,328 shares of Kratos. Across other flagship funds, ARK Invest also bought 137,909 shares of Tempus AI, 92,198 shares of Intellia Therapeutics and 30,036 shares of Circle Internet Group through ARKK, while ARKF and ARKW separately added more Circle shares. The firm additionally trimmed positions in AMD, Twist Bioscience, CareDx and Veracyte.

ARK recently highlighted that SpaceX represented 17% of the ARK Venture Fund’s net assets as of March 31, making it the fund’s largest holding. The firm said investors in the ARK Venture Fund gain exposure to SpaceX directly through cap-table ownership rather than secondary-market vehicles, SPVs or structured products. ARK also outlined how the fund intends to manage the position if SpaceX eventually goes public, saying that the IPO would not disrupt the fund’s broader crossover structure.

“The investment vehicle we built will work as intended,” ARK said, noting that any post-IPO lockup period would allow incoming capital to be redeployed into other private tech companies, while gradually rebalancing the portfolio back toward its long-term 80% private-market target. 

Cathie Wood Sees ‘Voracious’ SpaceX IPO Demand

The latest ARK selling came shortly after Wood said investor appetite for SpaceX remains “voracious” ahead of a potential IPO. “So the demand is voracious out there,” Wood said in a Bloomberg interview last week. “Only $75 billion. Yes, it’s a big IPO. But just think about how SpaceX has reawakened the dream of space exploration.”

Wood also warned that the eventual listing could trigger a major supply-demand imbalance. “I think there’ll be supply-demand imbalance in the beginning,” she said. “You’ll see that pop. It will be volatile, I would imagine.” Wood additionally suggested that SpaceX’s orbital data-center ambitions could eventually become far larger than Starlink itself. “We have not added orbital data centers in,” Wood said.

Investor excitement around SpaceX has accelerated in recent weeks as CEO Elon Musk positions the company as a vertically integrated launch, telecom, AI and infrastructure giant rather than merely a rocket company. Recently, Anthropic secured access to over 300 megawatts of processing capacity from SpaceX’s Colossus 1 facility in Memphis, Tennessee.

RKLB Q1 Earnings Review

The growing SpaceX IPO excitement comes even as Rocket Lab continues delivering strong operational momentum of its own. Rocket Lab reported first-quarter (Q1) revenue of $200.3 million, up 63.5% year-over-year and above analyst expectations of $189.41 million. The company also guided for second-quarter revenue of $232.5 million, while forecasting its first positive quarterly EBITDA later this year.

Founder and CEO Peter Beck called it “the strongest Q1 in Rocket Lab’s history,” highlighting record backlog levels and accelerating launch demand. Rocket Lab’s backlog surpassed $2 billion on the back of Electron, Haste and Neutron contracts.

Recently, Rocket Lab confirmed the completion of a major Neutron stage-separation test campaign, validating one of the rocket’s most technically complex systems ahead of its targeted launch debut later this year. The company also announced a contract worth over $200 million covering five Neutron launches and three Electron missions for an undisclosed customer.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About RKLB?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RKLB was ‘extremely bullish’ amid a 580% surge in 24-hour message volumes.

One user said, “I'm buying this baby all the way up to $500. Any pullback today will be bought up”

Another user called RKLB the “Coolest company I’ve ever invested in.”

RKLB stock has rocketed 472% over the past year. 

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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