TLDR
- Rocket Lab posted record Q1 revenue of $200.3M, up 63.5% year-over-year, beating Wall Street’s $190M estimate.
- Gross profit came in at $76.5M, ahead of the expected $73M.
- Q2 guidance of $225M–$240M tops analyst forecasts of $205M.
- Backlog hit a record $2.2B, up 20.2% quarter-over-quarter.
- New contracts include the Golden Dome Space Based Interceptor program with Raytheon, hypersonic test flights for Anduril, and a deal to acquire robotics firm Motiv Space Systems.
Rocket Lab (RKLB) stock jumped 7.5% in premarket trading to $84.53 after the company reported record quarterly revenue and a string of new contract wins on Thursday.
Q1 revenue came in at $200.3 million, beating Wall Street’s estimate of around $190 million. Gross profit hit $76.5 million, also ahead of the expected $73 million.
For context, a year ago Rocket Lab posted $122.6 million in revenue and $35.2 million in gross profit. That’s a 63.5% revenue jump in 12 months.
$RKLB (Rocket Lab) #earnings are out: pic.twitter.com/yjI4LK1dcK
— The Earnings Correspondent (@earnings_guy) May 7, 2026
GAAP gross margin reached 38.2% — another record for the company.
The stock was already up more than 250% over the past 12 months heading into earnings. Thursday’s premarket move adds to that run.
Q2 Guidance Tops Estimates
Rocket Lab guided Q2 revenue between $225 million and $240 million. Wall Street had penciled in $205 million, so the midpoint of that range comes in roughly $27 million above consensus.
Non-GAAP gross margins for Q2 are expected between 38% and 40%.
The company ended Q1 with a record backlog of $2.2 billion, up 20.2% from the prior quarter. It also holds more than $2 billion in total liquidity.
In Q1 alone, Rocket Lab signed 31 new Electron and HASTE launch contracts, plus five dedicated Neutron launches. The company says it sold more launches in Q1 2026 than in all of 2025. Its total launch manifest now exceeds 70 contracted missions.
New Contracts and Acquisitions
On the business side, Rocket Lab was selected to support the Department of War’s Space Based Interceptor program — part of President Trump’s Golden Dome for America initiative — in partnership with Raytheon.
Anduril will use Rocket Lab for hypersonic weapons test flights under the MACH-TB program, which the company described as a record contract.
Rocket Lab also closed its acquisition of Mynaric AG, a laser optical communications firm that gives the company its first European footprint.
It signed a definitive agreement to acquire Motiv Space Systems, a robotics company with Mars-proven hardware. The deal is designed to bring solar array drive assemblies and other precision components in-house.
The company introduced Gauss, a new electric satellite thruster built for high-volume production targeting both commercial and national security constellation customers.
Progress on the Neutron medium-lift rocket continued, with first-flight hardware integration underway and an Archimedes engine qualification advancing. Rocket Lab is targeting a debut launch for Neutron later this year.
CEO Peter Beck said the company is “already embedded in the most demanding and significant space programs of our generation.”
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