Better Growth Stock: Rocket Lab USA vs. Intuitive Machines

3 weeks ago 8

George Budwell, The Motley Fool

Wed, Apr 16, 2025, 4:00 AM 6 min read

U.S. stocks person struggled mightily successful 2025. Thanks to President Donald Trump's protectionist policies, lingering inflation, and sticky involvement rates, the benchmark S&P 500 has mislaid 7.6% of its worth twelvemonth to day astatine the clip of this writing. Savvy investors, however, admit that specified crisp corrections often unveil uncommon opportunities to get high-quality companies astatine discounted prices -- peculiarly those successful innovative industries poised to thrive careless of broader economical headwinds.

Amid the marketplace turbulence, 2 abstraction exertion pioneers, Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) and Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), person emerged arsenic peculiarly compelling candidates for growth-focused portfolios. Both companies person seen their shares diminution precipitously this year, with Rocket Lab down 25% and Intuitive Machines plummeting 57% since the commencement of the year, creating perchance charismatic introduction points for investors with longer clip horizons and due hazard tolerance.

Which of these innovative space stocks represents the amended concern accidental astatine existent valuations? To reply this question, let's analyse each company's concern model, maturation trajectory, addressable market, and cardinal hazard factors to find which offers the much favorable risk-reward proposition for investors seeking vulnerability to the rapidly expanding commercialized abstraction economy.

A lunar rover connected the aboveground of the satellite with the Earth successful the background.

Founded successful 2006, Rocket Lab has transformed from a tiny rocket start-up into a broad abstraction exertion powerhouse. The company's Electron rocket has go America's 2nd astir often launched orbital vehicle, portion Rocket Lab has strategically expanded into spacecraft manufacturing, outer components, and integrated abstraction systems. Despite losing a 4th of its worth truthful acold this year, Rocket Lab's fundamentals proceed to fortify arsenic the institution solidifies its marketplace presumption betwixt smaller motorboat providers and manufacture elephantine SpaceX.

With a existent marketplace capitalization of astir $8.6 billion, Rocket Lab is targeting a monolithic commercialized accidental that justifies semipermanent capitalist enthusiasm. The planetary outer motorboat marketplace unsocial is projected to turn astatine implicit 16% annually done 2029, representing tens of billions successful imaginable revenue. When factoring successful spacecraft components, outer systems, and abstraction services, Rocket Lab's full addressable marketplace expands to perchance hundreds of billions annually, creating a important maturation runway successful the decades ahead.

Recent fiscal results show Rocket Lab's execution capabilities, with Q4 2024 gross surging 121% twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth to $132.4 million. More importantly, the company's backlog has swelled to a whopping $1.07 billion. This increasing pipeline provides exceptional visibility into aboriginal net and demonstrates beardown commercialized request for Rocket Lab's expanding capabilities crossed some motorboat services and abstraction systems.

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