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If you own Rocket Lab (RKLB), whose larger Neutron rocket has yet to fly after its first launch was pushed to 2027, you likely hold it alongside money that already follows the market. This matters because whatever Rocket Lab does each day lands on top of what your other investments are doing. So when the market rises or falls, does Rocket Lab add to the swing in your money?
Yes, Rocket Lab Moves About Four Times The Market
Over the year ending October 28, 2026, a $10,000 investment in Rocket Lab stock gained about $253 on an average day the S&P 500 rose, compared with about $63 for the same amount in the index. On an average day the index fell, the Rocket Lab holding lost about $256, compared with a decline of about $60 for the index.
Rocket Lab’s volatility, which measures how widely its price swings over a year, was 93.9% during that period, compared with 12.7% for the S&P 500. For each 1% move in the index, Rocket Lab moved about 3.97% in the same direction on average, a metric investors call beta.
As a result, Rocket Lab does not steady the market risk you already carry. On an average up or down day, it moves in the same direction as the index but goes much further. The day-to-day match is only partial, with a correlation of 0.54, where 1 would mean moving in lockstep, so much of its swing came from outside the market.
Will Rocket Lab Keep Swinging This Hard?
Probably, because Rocket Lab is still spending heavily on projects that have not paid off yet. Management said on the August 10, 2026 call that cash use will stay elevated while the company develops and builds Neutron. Free cash flow was negative $110 million in fiscal Q2 2026, compared with negative $77.4 million in fiscal Q1.
Rocket Lab is also buying Iridium in a deal it expects to complete in mid-2027. Management says the acquisition will add a business selling data services from space. On September 15, 2026, Rocket Lab said it had fully funded the purchase, including the completion of a $1.94 billion sale of its stock. The orders are there, with the backlog reaching $2.36 billion at the end of fiscal Q2 2026. But a full order book does not settle when Neutron flies or how the Iridium purchase works out, making it likely that the swings of the past year will continue.
Has Rocket Lab’s Extra Risk Paid You?
Only partly. Over the five years to October 28, 2026, Rocket Lab stock returned 33.1% a year, compared with 12.6% for the S&P 500. But it swung far more to get there, carrying an annual volatility of 79.0% against 17.0% for the index.
