In this articleRKLBFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTA view of Rocket Lab’s HASTE suborbital launch vehicle.Rocket LabRocket Lab shares jumped in post-market trading after the company reported third-quarter results and announced its first customer for its coming Neutron vehicle.The space infrastructure company reported third-quarter revenue increased to $104.8 million, up 55% from $67.6 million for the same period a year ago, and above Wall Street’s expectation of $102 million, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG.Its net loss also increased year over year, to $51.9 million from $40.6 million, but its loss of 10 cents per share came in slightly below analyst expectations of a loss of 11 cents a share.Rocket Lab forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $125 million and $135 million, which at the midpoint would see the company bring in about $430 million this year.Additionally, the company announced its first launch deal for its Neutron rocket.A “confidential commercial satellite constellation operator” signed for two missions in mid-2026, which Rocket Lab said were at a price “consistent with our target” for the vehicle. Previously, the company said it was targeting a price point of about $50 million per Neutron launch.Shares of Rocket Lab jumped as much as 25% in after-hours trading, up from its close at $14.66 a share. The stock has been flying up the past three months, nearly tripling over that period.Read more CNBC space newsSubscribe to CNBC’s Investing in Space weekly newsletterA new Blue Origin: CEO Dave Limp is bringing urgency and ‘decisiveness’ to Jeff Bezos’ space companySpacecraft delivery startup founded by former SpaceX rocket guru raises $150 million, led by Founders FundThe bulk of Rocket Lab’s Q3 revenue growth came from its Space Systems unit, which builds spacecraft and sells satellite parts. The business brought in $83.9 million of the quarter’s revenue, up from $46.3 million a year ago, while its Launch unit brought in $21 million, roughly in line wit- $21.3 million a year prior.But the company’s small Electron vehicle, which sells for about $8.5 million per mission, has become the world’s third-most-frequently launched orbital rocket. It’s launched a company record 12 missions so far this year. And Rocket Lab added $55 million worth of new launch contracts to Electron’s backlog in Q3.Development of Neutron — as well as the Archimedes engines that power it — remains a key watch item for investors, with heavy research and development spending driving most of Rocket Lab’s quarterly losses.Neutron is seen as crucial for Rocket Lab to tap larger markets, including a broader swath of U.S. national security launches. The company continues to expect Neutron to debut in mid-2025 and has outlined a variety of milestones in the rocket’s path to launch — including assembly and testing of flight hardware, firing “multiple” Archimedes engines and continuing on work underway on the launchpad infrastructure in Virginia. …
