Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB), Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) are all running higher in Monday morning trading, outpacing the broader market by a wide margin.
Rocket Lab shares are trading at $69.03, up 7% on the session, following a reiterated Overweight rating and $122 price target from Cantor Fitzgerald on the launch company.
Intuitive Machines is climbing even harder, up 10% to $15.28, despite carrying no research note or company announcement of its own to explain the move.
AST SpaceMobile rounds out the space cluster advance, rising 6% to $61.81 in a coordinated bid that spans the launch and lunar names simultaneously.
The Procure Space ETF (NASDAQ: UFO) is at $44.19, up 2%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE ARCA: SPY) is at $770.32, up 1.13%, underscoring how heavily the buying is concentrated in space names.
Cantor Fitzgerald’s bull case for Rocket Lab centers on the company’s launch record across three vehicle types: Electron, Haste, and Neutron, serving both commercial and government customers.
The firm also highlights Rocket Lab’s dedicated launchpads in New Zealand and the United States as a material competitive advantage over rivals chasing the same launch contracts.
Cantor named two specific catalysts it expects to move Rocket Lab shares: the debut flight of the Neutron medium-lift rocket and the closing of a pending Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) acquisition.
Neither event has been assigned a firm date, which limits the reiteration’s force as a market catalyst since it represents a restated view rather than an upgrade or target increase.
The most telling detail of the session is that Intuitive Machines, which received no catalyst, is outperforming Rocket Lab on a day when only the launch name carries a research note.
That gap between the two stocks suggests the broader space sector, rather than Rocket Lab specifically, is attracting buying pressure from traders rotating into the group.
Friday’s session moved in the opposite direction for these same names, meaning part of Monday’s advance represents a reversal rather than the start of a new sustained trend for the cluster.
The bull thesis on Rocket Lab remains intact for investors who believe Neutron’s first flight and the Iridium Communications close will each function as meaningful binary repricing events for the stock.
Traders watching these space names should monitor whether Rocket Lab and its peers hold their morning gains into the close, since a second reversal would signal the group is being traded rather than accumulated by long-term buyers.
