Rocket Lab (RKLB) CEO Peter Beck is cautioning investors that surging enthusiasm across the AI and space sectors may not be sustainable.
Beck described the current market environment as “piping hot,” warning that ballooning valuations across both industries could eventually collapse under their own weight.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB, Beck acknowledged that his company’s fundamentals remain strong despite significant share price turbulence in recent months.
“Rocket Lab as a business is fundamentally better in every single metric,” Beck said, adding that the stock’s decline was driven by broader macro conditions beyond the company’s control.
“That’s just a complete macro, you know, environment thing that you can’t really control,” he said, describing the current investment climate as unusually frenzied.
When asked directly whether the AI, chips, and space investment wave could “go pop,” Beck did not dismiss the possibility outright.
“I mean, yes, I think it could, but also I think you’re buying into the promise and the hope of what it can potentially provide,” he said, while declining to defend elevated price levels.
“Look, I’m not gonna defend, you know, some of the prices of some of these things. I think they’re very high value,” Beck added, echoing warnings he had made earlier in June.
Beck had previously stated in June that some space-sector valuations were “completely untethered to reality,” signaling that his concerns about speculative excess are not new.
The backdrop to these warnings is a sweeping revaluation of space companies tied to SpaceX’s blockbuster Nasdaq debut and Elon Musk’s prediction that orbital AI computing could eventually undercut terrestrial data centers on cost.
SpaceX listed at a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion despite reporting $18.67 billion in 2025 revenue and a $4.94 billion net loss, pricing the company at roughly 94 times annual sales.
Ahead of the IPO, Rocket Lab itself hit a market cap of approximately $66 billion against $600 million in 2025 revenue, a ratio that reflected the broader sector euphoria.
The trade reversed sharply on June 12 when SpaceX debuted, with Rocket Lab falling 10.8%, Planet Labs (PL) declining 8.8%, Intuitive Machines (LUNR) sinking 13.1%, and AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) losing about 16%.
RKLB stock fell an additional 2% on Thursday, extending its losing streak to a second consecutive session and remaining on pace for a fifth straight weekly decline.
Despite questioning broad sector valuations, Beck defended Rocket Lab’s own premium by pointing to its rare position as one of only two companies regularly launching commercial orbital rockets.
“It’s SpaceX and Rocket Lab, that’s it,” Beck said, arguing that this exclusivity justifies investor attention and a higher valuation than most peers command.
Beck noted that 142 small-rocket companies existed when Rocket Lab began developing its Electron rocket, and the competitive field eventually “whittled down to one, which is us.”
“It’s just incredibly difficult to execute,” he said. “Rocket science doesn’t change.”
Beck called rockets the “keys to space” and suggested the industry’s ultimate winners would be those combining launch capabilities, satellite manufacturing, and downstream services under one roof.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RKLB has been rated “bearish” over the past week, coinciding with a 51% decline in 24-hour message volumes, reflecting growing unease among individual investors.
Despite recent pressure, RKLB stock has still risen 34% over the past year, underscoring how dramatically the space investment theme has reshaped market expectations since 2025.
