Why Rocket Lab Stock Popped on Tuesday

Space company Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ: RKLB) enjoyed a modest stock price bump in early trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday, rising 3.7% through 10 a.m. ET. The curious thing is that this bump came after what initially appears to be bad news.

Last night Rocket Lab announced it will delay its next Electron rocket launch.

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Does Rocket Lab have a problem?

Rocket Lab had an Electron all ready to launch a handful of Internet of Things (IoT) satellites into orbit for customer Kineis today. The company had to postpone launch to sometime "in the coming days," however. Management noted the reason for this was a "COLA report."

But is a COLA report good or bad?

That's a question Rocket Lab easily answered. Writing on X:

What is COLA? Collision On Launch Avoidance/Assessment-a process that assesses space traffic from other satellites and the ISS to determine when a rocket can be launched safely. It essentially it tells us when it's safe to merge onto the space highway.

Because the position of...

-- Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) February 3, 2025

So basically, traffic is heavy on the Karman Line. Rocket Lab will wait a day or three until it has a safer route to merge, and then it will launch its rocket as planned. But all systems are still "go" for Rocket Lab to make its first launch of 2025, and investors seem relieved to hear that.

Is Rocket Lab stock a buy?

The bigger question for investors is whether today is a good day to merge Rocket Lab stock into their own portfolios. And I have to admit -- I don't think it is.

Rocket Lab is not yet profitable. It's free-cash-flow-negative, too, and is trading for a price-to-sales ratio of more than 38 times trailing sales, which as I've written in the past, looks very expensive relative to the usual valuation of unprofitable space stocks.

Granted, this picture could look a lot different a year from now, after Rocket Lab launches its first Neutron and begins (maybe) earnings profits. For now, though, Rocket Lab stock doesn't look like a buy to me.

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Rich Smith has positions in Rocket Lab USA. The Motley Fool recommends Rocket Lab USA. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.