Head to Head Contrast: Rocket Lab (RKLB) vs. Its Competitors

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) is one of 46 public companies in the “AEROSP/DEF EQ” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Rocket Lab to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Rocket Lab and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rocket Lab	$436.21 million	-$190.18 million	-89.00
Rocket Lab Competitors	$3.44 billion	$265.08 million	73.28

Rocket Lab’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Rocket Lab has a beta of 2.15, indicating that its share price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocket Lab’s competitors have a beta of 0.98, indicating that their average share price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Rocket Lab shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.1% of shares of all “AEROSP/DEF EQ” companies are held by institutional investors. 13.7% of Rocket Lab shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of shares of all “AEROSP/DEF EQ” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Rocket Lab and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rocket Lab	-44.32%	-48.92%	-17.28%
Rocket Lab Competitors	-42.27%	-0.19%	3.44%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Rocket Lab and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rocket Lab	0	4	7	1	2.75
Rocket Lab Competitors	348	1813	2779	97	2.52

Rocket Lab presently has a consensus price target of $30.40, suggesting a potential downside of 14.61%. As a group, “AEROSP/DEF EQ” companies have a potential downside of 1.83%. Given Rocket Lab’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Rocket Lab has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Rocket Lab competitors beat Rocket Lab on 7 of the 13 factors compared.

Rocket Lab Company Profile

Rocket Lab USA, Inc., a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets. It also designs, manufactures, and sells Electron, a reusable orbital-class small rocket; and the Photon satellite platforms, as well as developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle; conducts remote launch activities; and designs and manufactures a range of components and subsystems for the Photon family of spacecraft and broader merchant spacecraft components. The company serves commercial, aerospace prime contractors, and government customers. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.