What happened
Shares of Rocket Lab USA (RKLB 0.43%) lost more altitude in early Monday trading, falling 15.2% through 10:30 a.m. EDT.
The stock seems to be falling in response to a Barron's article over the weekend suggested that "it's time to sell some shares" of the fast-rising space stock now that it's public and no longer a special purpose acquisition company.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
It's hard to disagree. Since coming public in a SPAC-sponsored initial public offering last month, and reporting its first earnings as a publicly traded company last week, Rocket Lab stock (what else?) rocketed to more than double its pre-IPO price.
After a ride like that, the idea of taking some profits, as Barron's suggested, has to look attractive.
Now what
The more so when you consider that just this morning, analysts at Cowen (NASDAQ: COWN) initiated coverage of Rocket Lab stock and gave it only a lukewarm "market perform" rating and an $18 price target, which is below where the stock closed on Friday.
Although Rocket Lab is "the leading small satellite launch provider and consolidator of satellite components/services," according to StreetInsider.com, and has "competitive advantages, attractive launcher expansion path, and end-to-end market strategy [promising] robust extended growth," Cowen is taking a cautious approach to the stock at its current elevated valuation.
Until we get a better idea of how long it will take Rocket Lab to turn its soaring revenue into profits, I think that's sound advice.
