Rocket Lab Q2 2026 earnings: revenue up 62%, loss widens

Rocket Lab Q2 2026 earnings: revenue up 62%, loss widens

Tue, August 11, 2026 at 3:03 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• RKLB -3.37%

Rocket Lab reported record second-quarter revenue of $234 million on Monday, a 62% increase from the prior year, but posted a wider-than-expected loss that sent Rocket Lab stock lower.

The Long Beach, California-based launch and space systems company disclosed a net loss of $49.3 million, or 8 cents per share, for the three months ended June 30, improving from $66.4 million, or 13 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The consensus forecast from FactSet analysts had called for a 6-cent-per-share loss on $231.6 million in revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal. Rocket Lab stock fell 1.6% to $78.80 after Monday's close.

On the revenue mix, product sales climbed to $181.3 million from $92.7 million a year ago, while service revenues rose modestly to $52.7 million from $51.8 million. Rocket Lab closed the quarter with a $2.36 billion backlog, reflecting 137% growth compared with the same period last year, the company said.

For the third quarter, Rocket Lab guided for revenue of $250 million to $265 million. The company said it has already entered into more than $1 billion in new contracts during the current quarter. Rocket Lab also guided for an adjusted EBITDA loss of $17 million to $23 million in the third quarter.

Rocket Lab founder and chief executive officer Sir Peter Beck said in a statement that the quarter was marked by "massive momentum," pointing to new contracts across launch and space systems. During the second quarter, the company closed its acquisitions of Mynaric and Motiv, and announced a deal to acquire Iridium Communications.

Rocket Lab agreed in June to acquire Iridium in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $8 billion, which would give it control of Iridium's 66-satellite low-Earth orbit network and more than 2.55 million subscribers. The deal, expected to close in mid-2027, is designed to position Rocket Lab to compete more directly with SpaceX and its Starlink satellite communications unit.

The company also received a $397 million Space Force contract to build, launch, and operate satellites for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program, and was awarded a $266 million multi-launch contract with the Space Force covering up to 18 suborbital missions supporting missile defense, with the first launch expected by the end of 2026.