Al Root

Rocket Lab's stock fell early Monday, and one thing weighing on shares appears to be something that was unlikely to happen for as much as five years in the first place.

Shares of the space technology company traded as low as $75.30 before recovering to $77.49, down 3.2%. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

The move seems to be in response to Congress killing a plan to bring samples back to Earth from the Mars Perseverance Rover, which has been on the red planet since 2021. The project would have cost some $4 billion.

In early 2025, Rocket Lab had proposed to bring the samples back by 2031 under a firm fixed-price contract. It was an ambitious idea that didn't survive the Congressional budgeting process in mid-January.

Investors may have been clinging to some hope that the program would be revived. Still, 2031 business rarely affects stock prices in 2026.

Rocket Lab, however, is an expensive, high-expectation stock trading for about 45 times the sales expected over the coming 12 months. Wall Street doesn't see the company producing a full-year profit until 2027, when sales reach $1.2 billion, up from an estimated $900 million in 2026.

A lack of profits in a startup operating in an exciting new industry isn't a surprise. In Rocket Lab's case, it hasn't dissuaded investors. Through late morning trading, shares were up 168% over the past 12 months.

Still, when a stock's performance and valuation look like that, any negative tidbit can cause an outsize reaction in shares.

Investors will get more space news in the coming days. NASA is readying the launch of its Artemis II mission, which is slated to depart no earlier than Sunday. Four astronauts will lift off on the huge SLS rocket-launch vehicle and travel in the Orion spacecraft around the moon in a mission lasting 10 days.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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February 02, 2026 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)

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