Space Stocks Take Flight Premarket After Musk-Trump Rift Casts Doubt Over SpaceX Contracts

Space stocks rose in premarket trading on Friday as investors were optimistic about the prospects for the companies following the public dispute between their top rival, SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Rocket Lab stock rose 5.7% in premarket trading while Virgin Galactic was up 9.6%, as the companies could stand to benefit if the U.S. government scraps the agreements with SpaceX, which Trump threatened to do on Thursday.

Rocket Lab, which offers launch services alongside other space-related services, is an emerging player in the private space industry, holding several contracts with NASA.

Thursday’s feud began after President Donald Trump hit back at Musk over his criticism of the Republican President’s signature tax reform bill.

Trump said he was “very disappointed in Elon” over his criticism of the bill after telling reporters, “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”

The fight escalated on social media as two of the most powerful figures of conservative politics attacked each other in a series of posts.

Musk even called for Trump’s impeachment, while the Republican President said that the easiest way to cut spending was to cancel the government contracts and incentives for the South Africa-born billionaire’s businesses.

As a response, Musk said SpaceX would begin decommissioning the Dragon spacecraft before retracting later in a sign of truce.

SpaceX is expected to carry NASA astronauts to the moon in its Starship spacecraft. Rocket Lab is also participating in the lunar program and has already flown the space agency’s Capstone spacecraft.

The two companies are also competitors for defense contracts, with Rocket Lab enhancing its capabilities through the acquisition of Geost, a missile sensor system provider.

Retail sentiment toward Rocket Lab was in the ‘bullish’ (72/100) territory on Stocktwits, while retail chatter was ‘high.’

“Elon has created irreparable damage to himself, Tesla, and all of his enterprises. The U.S. will now have to diversify away from Musk,” one user said.

Rocket Lab stock has risen 4% this year.

Also See: Musk-Trump Call Expected On Friday After Online Feud Over Tax Reform Bill

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