RKLB Stock Jumps As Stifel Calls Viasat Deal Another Success

• Stifel analyst Erik Rasmussen maintained his ‘Buy’ rating on Rocket Lab.
• Rasmussen said Rocket Lab is likely to secure a meaningful portion of Viasat’s $218.8 million Swarm-1 award, which could represent a high-eight-figure opportunity for the company.
• Rocket Lab reported record second-quarter revenue of $234 million and a backlog of $2.36 billion earlier this month.

Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) rose as much as 6% on Monday after Viasat selected the company to build a satellite platform for a key U.S. Space Force program, a deal termed ‘another success’ for the rocket manufacturing firm by Wall Street.

Analyst Keeps Buy Rating

Stifel analyst Erik Rasmussen maintained his ‘Buy’ rating on Rocket Lab (RKLB). He called the deal another success for the firm’s growing national security space work. Rasmussen said Rocket Lab is likely to secure a meaningful portion of Viasat’s $218.8 million Swarm-1 award, which could represent a high-eight-figure opportunity for the company. He also noted that Rocket Lab is well-placed for additional awards in the future, according to TheFly.

The Partnership Details

Viasat chose Rocket Lab to supply its Lightning-GEO satellite bus earlier on Monday. This will carry Viasat’s secure dual-band communications equipment for the Space Force’s Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global program. The effort aims to provide U.S. forces with reliable, jam-resistant connections through smaller, more flexible satellites in high orbit.

Viasat received the initial production order, known as Swarm 1, in May. It covers the building, testing, launch, and operation of the satellite for five years. Rocket Lab CEO Sir Peter Beck said the move into production marks progress for the company’s role in national security space. “By pairing our spacecraft with Viasat’s payload, we’re delivering resilient communications that keep our forces connected,” he noted.

Building On Recent Progress

The win adds to Rocket Lab’s recent momentum. Just days earlier, eight of its satellite platforms for MDA Space reached orbit successfully and are performing as planned. The company also reported record second-quarter revenue of $234 million and a backlog of $2.36 billion. Progress continues on its planned acquisition of Iridium, with key regulatory steps cleared last week.

How Did Stocktwits Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around RKLB fell from ‘extremely bullish’ to ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained ‘high.’

A Stocktwits user said that the stock will gain traction through the end of the year when Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket approaches its first launch.

Other users anticipated whether the stock would cross $84. The stock last closed above the threshold in early July and has not closed above it since, though it did surge above it intermittently in intraday trading.

RKLB stock has gained 17% year-to-date. 

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