Key Stats for Rocket Lab Stock
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Current Price: $68.40
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Street Target: ~$109
What Happened?
Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) closed at $68.40 on October 8, down 4.89% on the day and 8.87% from its October 6 close of $75.06. The selling hit the whole group: SpaceX (SPCX) fell 6.60%, AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) 9.81%, and Planet Labs (PL) 7.43% over the same two sessions. No Rocket Lab-specific catalyst has been reported for either day, while a spike in crude oil and elevated Treasury yields weighed on growth stocks on October 8.
SpaceX’s news matters more to Rocket Lab’s thesis than the price action. On October 6, the Federal Communications Commission cleared SpaceX to deploy 15,000 Starlink Mobile satellites without a wireless-carrier spectrum lease. Late on October 8, SpaceX agreed to acquire Grain Management’s nationwide 800 MHz spectrum to pair with ground infrastructure. Wireless carriers are the primary targets. Rocket Lab’s exposure runs through Iridium Communications (IRDM), which it agreed to buy for about $8 billion. Founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck named direct-to-device as an Iridium growth area on the August 10 call, whose replay is in Rocket Lab’s investor relations materials.
SpaceX Is Paying to Close the Indoor Gap Beck Called Iridium’s Edge
Beck described Iridium as having 66 satellites, more than 2.5 million subscribers, and more than $870 million in revenue over the past year. He credited its L-band spectrum with penetrating rain, weather and buildings, and said “it’s the wrong kind of spectrum for broadband.” Asked how the market could look by the mid-2030s, he agreed the landscape for direct to mobile “is going to change a lot,” but said he was less concerned, citing L-band’s strengths.
Indoor reach is the gap SpaceX is now paying to close. William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma said the Grain spectrum could help Starlink Mobile address indoor coverage. The deal still needs FCC approval, and its terms were not disclosed. Iridium’s own direct-to-device service, NTN Direct, is narrowband IoT over its global L-band network, slated for commercial availability to Deutsche Telekom IoT customers in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Iridium stockholders approved the deal on September 24, with closing expected in mid-2027 pending regulatory approvals. Rocket Lab raised $1.94 billion through an at-the-market stock sale to help fund it.
Neutron Pricing Is the Part Rocket Lab Controls
CFO Adam Spice said Neutron came to market at a $50 million to $55 million average selling price with no significant early discounting, and that the company sees more upside than downside from there. Beck said Rocket Lab has had “absolutely 0 issues in selling full price Neutrons pre-test flights.”
