During the October 1 episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer weighed in on Rocket Lab Corporation (NASDAQ: RKLB) while reviewing the Nasdaq 100’s third-quarter performance.
Cramer pointed investors firmly toward Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: SPCX), better known as SpaceX, delivering a blunt assessment of the two competing space stocks.
His exact words left little room for interpretation: “Alright, what about the Nasdaq 100, which finished up 2.47%?… Losers… There’s Rocket Lab, off 31%. Some delays, some dilution, lower margins, can even bring down rocket stocks. You want rockets? SpaceX.”
Despite the stock’s sharp decline, Rocket Lab’s underlying business continued to show meaningful commercial traction through the second quarter of 2026.
Rocket Lab reported second-quarter revenue of approximately $234 million, representing a 62% increase year-over-year, alongside a backlog of $2.36 billion.
Management projected third-quarter revenue in the range of $250 million to $265 million, signaling continued confidence in near-term demand even as profitability remains elusive.
On September 30, Rocket Lab announced an agreement with Synspective covering 20 additional Electron missions, its largest commercial Electron launch contract to date.
That deal brings Synspective’s total contracted Electron missions to 47, underscoring the repeat demand the company continues to generate from established customers.
SpaceX operates on a considerably larger scale, with second-quarter revenue rising 92% to approximately $7.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA reaching $3.5 billion.
Connectivity revenue grew 66%, driven by a doubling of Starlink subscribers and expansion across enterprise and government channels, broadening the company’s revenue base well beyond launch services.
SpaceX ended June with approximately $100 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, giving it a financial cushion that Rocket Lab cannot match at its current stage.
Rocket Lab’s financial challenges remain real, with third-quarter guidance pointing to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $17 million to $23 million and GAAP gross margins of just 29% to 31%.
SpaceX’s scale does not insulate it from losses either, as the company posted a second-quarter net loss of $541 million driven in large part by aggressive AI-related investment.
Its AI segment alone incurred approximately $15.83 billion in capital expenditures during the quarter and recorded an operating loss of approximately $1.26 billion, reflecting the cost of building out that business.
On valuation, enterprise-value-to-trailing-sales multiples stand at approximately 55x for Rocket Lab and 91x for SpaceX, with neither stock carrying a meaningful trailing earnings multiple.
Hedge fund interest tracked by Insider Monkey showed 119 funds holding SpaceX in the second quarter, while Rocket Lab appeared in 99 portfolios, down from 112 in the prior quarter.
Reported short interest stood at 2.43% of SpaceX’s float versus 6.45% for Rocket Lab, pointing to a notably larger relative short position against the smaller launch company.
Raymond James issued a bullish call on Rocket Lab in September, identifying what it described as two areas of “significant upside” potential for the company going forward.
Cramer’s preference for SpaceX is clear, but the financial picture between the two companies is more layered than simply favoring the larger operator in the space industry.
Both stocks demand that investors look well beyond current earnings to justify their valuations, as growth trajectories, capital intensity, and execution risk remain central to the investment case on either side.
