Rocket Lab USA, Inc. ( RKLB ) shares are trading higher Friday after the company reported better-than-expected financial results for the second quarter.

The Details:

Rocket Lab beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines with total revenue of $106.25 million, up 71% on a year-over-year basis. 

The company announced it has begun installation of the largest automated fiber placement machine of its kind into the company’s Neutron rocket production line in Middle River, MD. The AFP machine will enable Rocket Lab to automate production of the largest carbon composite rocket structures in history.

Rocket Lab also announced it has successfully hot fired its new rocket engine Archimedes for the first time, reaching a critical technical milestone toward the first launch of its new medium-lift rocket, Neutron. 

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Rocket Lab shares are blasting higher on heavy volume Friday as investors digest the earnings report and business updates. According to data from Benzinga Pro, more than 7 million shares have already changed hands in the session, compared to the stock's 100-day average volume of 7.076 million shares.

RKLB Stock Prediction 2024:

Equity research can be a valuable source of information for learning about a company's fundamentals. Analysts create financial models based on the fundamentals and expected future earnings of a company to arrive at a price target and recommendation for the stock.

Shares of Rocket Lab USA ( RKLB ) have an average 1-year price target of $5.94, representing an expected upside of 8.77%.

Because of differences in assumptions, analysts can arrive at very different price targets and recommendations. No analysts have bearish recommendations on Rocket Lab USA ( RKLB ), while 6 analysts have bullish ratings. The street high price target from Roth MKM is $7, while the street low from Goldman Sachs is $4.50.

RKLB Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Rocket Lab shares are up 9.64% at $5.22 at the time of publication Friday.

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