Space stocks are trading in mixed fashion Thursday, with the sector showing a more nuanced picture than a simple broad selloff would suggest.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) is down 3.5% intraday, AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) is off 3%, and Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR) is down roughly 1.6% after opening deeply negative following its earnings release.
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) is bucking the trend, trading up 1.1% and standing as the clear outperformer among major space names Thursday.
The primary catalyst driving volatility across the group is Intuitive Machines’ Q2 report, which was released Thursday morning and came in below Wall Street expectations.
Revenue hit a company-record $206.2 million but missed the FactSet consensus of $216.3 million, paired with a wider-than-expected loss for the quarter.
What kept the selloff relatively contained was $920 million in new awards booked during the quarter and a backlog that ended the period at $1.8 billion.
Intuitive Machines’ lunar delivery work overlaps commercially with SpaceX’s launch services and NASA program exposure, meaning a soft earnings report here tends to spread into broader sector sentiment.
SpaceX’s pullback looks more like a healthy consolidation than a fundamental breakdown, given shares are up 35% over the past week following Wednesday’s rally tied to the release of Grok 4.6.
The xAI model reportedly scored 61 on an intelligence index, matching OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol, a benchmark result that helped fuel enthusiasm around SpaceX’s growing artificial intelligence business.
AI revenue at SpaceX grew 247% year over year to $2.56 billion last quarter, which is why the stock increasingly trades alongside AI infrastructure names rather than pure-play space peers.
Morgan Stanley has argued that investors are undervaluing SpaceX’s AI franchise, a view that has helped attract significant retail and institutional attention to the recently listed stock.
SpaceX only listed publicly around June 2026 at roughly $135 per share, meaning volatility around the name is still finding its equilibrium as price discovery continues.
Significant inflows moving into memory stocks Thursday, after SanDisk forecast stronger-than-expected non-GAAP margins of 80% in the 2028 to 2030 period, may also be pulling capital away from SPCX.
AST SpaceMobile is still digesting its own Q2 report from August 10, when revenue came in at $31.52 million, missing consensus of $34.40 million, with GAAP EPS of -$0.77 hurt by a $125.9 million loss tied to the BB7 launch incident.
Despite today’s move lower, ASTS remains up 9% on the week, suggesting Thursday’s decline is more of a giveback after a strong run than a meaningful trend reversal.
Rocket Lab is providing a clear fundamental counterweight to the group, with Q2 revenue of $234.07 million beating estimates by 1% and jumping 62.0% year over year.
The company’s backlog swelled to a record $2.36 billion, and CEO Peter Beck called it “another fantastic quarter,” giving investors clear fundamental cover to hold the stock.
Planet Labs and Redwire are also modestly green on the day, reinforcing the read that Thursday’s action reflects a rotation inside the space group rather than a broad sector exit.
