Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) shares rose 1% in overnight trading Tuesday after Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest added a significant stake and the company’s CFO disclosed a multimillion-dollar share gift.
ARK Investment Management purchased 160,890 Rocket Lab shares for its flagship ARK Innovation ETF on Tuesday, a position worth approximately $12.7 million at current market prices.
The purchase represented 0.2% of the ARK Innovation ETF and came on a session where RKLB stock had already fallen 4% to close at $79.16.
A regulatory filing disclosed that CFO Adam Spice gifted 30,000 Rocket Lab shares, valued at approximately $2.5 million based on Monday’s closing price, through a bona fide gift transaction.
The recipient of the gifted shares was not identified in the filing, and the nature of the transfer was classified as a non-sale disposition.
Following the transaction, Spice held 1.17 million shares directly and another 250,000 indirectly through a trust, giving him total disclosed ownership exceeding 1.4 million shares worth $116.2 million.
The insider activity coincided with a series of defense-sector wins, beginning with Rocket Lab’s admission into the U.S. Space Force’s Space Data Network Consortium.
As part of that membership, the company secured two delivery orders with a combined value of $12 million, covering a secure high-speed military communications network and an in-orbit demonstration using a Photon spacecraft planned for 2027.
CEO Peter Beck said the development “represents a significant opportunity to leverage Rocket Lab’s vertically integrated capabilities to help ensure seamless interoperability and global connectivity for the Joint Force.”
Rocket Lab also gained eligibility under the Space Force’s NITE-STAR program, which carries a contract ceiling of $981 million, covering spacecraft, software, ground systems, and mission operations.
Viasat selected Rocket Lab to build a geosynchronous satellite bus for the Space Force’s Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global program, with the spacecraft set to use Rocket Lab’s Lightning-GEO platform and carry Viasat’s dual-band payload.
The satellite is intended to provide secure, anti-jam communications for U.S. and allied forces, adding further weight to Rocket Lab’s growing defense portfolio.
Separately, Rocket Lab confirmed that eight satellite platforms it built for MDA Space successfully reached orbit and established contact with ground controllers following an August 15 launch.
The eight platforms are the first batch of 17 built under a $143 million agreement supporting Globalstar’s direct-to-device communications and Internet of Things network.
All eight spacecraft were generating power and performing nominally after launch, with the 500-kilogram platforms representing customized versions of Rocket Lab’s Lightning platform also being used across several defense missions.
Despite the flurry of contract wins and institutional buying, retail sentiment on Stocktwits turned bearish, hitting a one-year low reading of 34 out of 100 against low message volume.
One user commented that “nothing good is going to happen for the next couple of months” until Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket successfully launches, citing the company’s “enormous” valuation while still expressing long-term confidence.
Another user wrote that “$RKLB when will people learn this company only exists for neutron. It is the reason no amount of contracts or news will raise this massively overpriced ticker higher.”
Despite near-term skepticism from some retail traders, RKLB stock has climbed 76% over the past year, reflecting sustained investor interest in the company’s expanding space and defense business.
