Rocket Lab (RKLB) Stock Drops 9% as Neutron Rocket Misses Launch Window
TLDR
- RKLB stock fell more than 9% in premarket trading Tuesday after Neutron launch delay signals
- Rocket Lab now says it will deliver Neutron to the launchpad in Q4 2026, but a first flight this year is no longer certain
- The delay could push Neutron’s debut to 2027, away from the original end-of-year target
- Q2 revenue hit a record $234.06M, up 62% year-over-year, beating estimates by $3.12M
- Q2 backlog reached a record $2.36B, up 137% year-over-year
Rocket Lab stock dropped more than 9% in premarket trading Tuesday after CEO Peter Beck told investors that the window for launching its Neutron rocket this year is narrowing.
The company had previously indicated it was on track to debut Neutron before the end of 2025. Now, the first flight could slip into 2027.
Rocket Lab said it is still planning to deliver Neutron to a launch pad in Q4 2026. But it stopped short of committing to an actual launch this year.
“The window for an end-of-year launch is narrowing,” Beck said during the earnings call. “The work we’re doing now is about risk trading, balancing the timing of our first launch against how quickly and seamlessly we can scale.”
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