Rocket Lab (RKLB 10.68%) stock is seeing another day of big gains in Monday's trading. The company's share price was up 8.6% as of 1:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.14%) was up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 0.27%) was up 0.3%. The stock had been up as much as 9.9% earlier in the session.
Rocket Lab is surging today after a major investment firm issued a major upward revision for its price target. The company's share price is now up roughly 66% year to date and is setting a new all-time high in today's trading.
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Citi's bullish coverage pushes Rocket Lab stock to fresh record high
Citi published new coverage on Rocket Lab stock before the market opened this morning and maintained a buy rating on the stock. The investment firm also raised its one-year price target on the stock from $33 per share to $50 per share.
Citi's analysts are seeing strong sales momentum in the broader aerospace and defense sector, and they expect Rocket Lab will be a strong beneficiary of the trend. The stock is also seeing bullish momentum in conjunction with investors betting that the Federal Reserve is now on track to serve up multiple cuts to the benchmark interest rate this year -- with a reduction for the base rate potentially arriving as early as this month. As of this writing, their new price target still suggests additional upside of 18%.
What's next for Rocket Lab?
Rocket Lab is seeing strong launch demand for commercial satellites for telecommunications and imaging, and it also has a long growth runway in the defense sector. The space industry appears to be taking off in a big way, which has helped support big gains in the company's valuation.
Rocket Lab has a market capitalization of roughly $19.5 billion and is trading at approximately 34 times this year's expected sales. While that growth-dependent valuation profile comes with substantial risk, it's possible that the company is still in the early stages of a massive long-term expansion trajectory.
