Why Viasat Stock Went to the Moon Today

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is buying Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) for $8 billion, arsenic the 2 abstraction companies conscionable announced -- and it's getting investors successful different abstraction stocks beauteous excited this morning.

Viasat (NASDAQ: VSAT) stock, for example, isn't progressive successful the RKLB-IRDM woody astatine all, but arsenic of 10:50 a.m. ET it's already up 17.1% -- adjacent much than Rocket Lab's 9.2% bump, and astir arsenic overmuch arsenic Iridium's 20.7% gain!

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Details, delight

Rocket Lab volition wage $8 cardinal successful currency and banal to get the archetypal outer telephone company, Iridium, and grow its concern beyond chiefly abstraction motorboat and outer operation to see Internet of Things (IoT), aviation, maritime, and Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services.

Viasat isn't progressive successful the merger -- but that it benignant of is.

What the Rocket Lab-Iridium tie-up means for Viasat

As a communications outer company, Viasat competes straight with Iridium, and besides with the Starlink web astatine SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) -- with which Rocket Lab volition present besides beryllium competing. You wouldn't ordinarily deliberation this benignant of accrued contention would beryllium bully quality for Viasat's business, which saw profits driblet 29% past quarter, and grew its income lone 2%!

From this perspective, Viasat's stock terms spike contiguous doesn't marque overmuch sense.

That said, successful comments connected the Iridium acquisition, Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck highlighted the attraction of Iridium's wireless spectrum holdings. Viasat has those, too, and this could marque it a aboriginal merger target, particularly arsenic the abstraction manufacture restructures and consolidates to instrumentality connected the menace of a bigger, wealthier SpaceX.

This, if you inquire me, is wherefore Rocket Lab's buying of Iridium has Viasat investors feeling optimistic today.

Should you bargain banal successful Viasat close now?

Before you bargain banal successful Viasat, see this:

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