🚀 Cathie Wood Buys $RKLB Dip

🚀 Cathie Wood Buys $RKLB Dip

September 22, 2023

The Space Scoop

Week Ended 09.22.2023

Happy Friday! Rocket Lab shares continued near-term pain following a launch anomaly, AST SpaceMobile claimed success in 5G mobile cellphone connectivity to BW3, Maxar has split into two entities, and Satellogic reported 1H'23 earnings along with returning to the U.S. Lets dive in.

Market Max-Q

Top Stories

1) Rocket Lab's ($RKLB) launch failure sent shares tumbling again this week. 

  • The Company's 19 consecutive successful launch streak ended, making this the fourth anomaly in 41 flights. The 90% success rate, while not on par with SpaceX, blows away other small satellite competitors.

  • The issue stemmed from Electron's upper stage ~2.5 minutes post-liftoff from New Zealand and lead to the loss of a commercial radar surveillance satellite from Capella Space.

  • Shares fell -7.5% on the news and closed the week down -12.5%. Another point for those not building space companies in the public domain..

  • This follows after the -17% week last week on Peter Beck selling some shares. Positive news to some, Cathie Wood of $ARKX bought the dip this week. Check out the 'Chart of the Week' below for more deets.

2) AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) claimed success in achieving the first ever space-based 5G cellular broadband connectivity to an everyday cellphone.

  • Company engineers demonstrated the connectivity by placing a call from Maui, HI to a Vodafone engineer in Madrid, ES using AT&T ($T) spectrum and BW3 test satellite.

  • They also shared a video this time rather than just a press release.

  • Shares rose +8.7% on the news and finished the week higher by +2.1%.

3) Satellogic ($SATL) reported 1H'2023 earnings on Thursday. Highlights include:

  • Cash & Equivalents: $42M

  • Revenue: $3.2M, +33% YoY

  • Net Loss: $(30)M vs. $(8)M

  • Adj. EBITDA: $(24)M vs. $(27)M

  • Shares: -13.1%

  • The biggest news is that the company will be re-domiciling in the United States (Delaware) in 1H'2024. Quarterly earning reports here we come.

In Other News

Kayan Space Raises Oversubscribed $7M Seed Extension Round (Company)

The software and solutions for space mission operations startup will use the funding to accelerate commercial delivery of Pathfinder 3.0, its autonomous space traffic coordinate framework. The round was led by Space Capital and EVE Atlas.

Maxar Splits Into Two Separate Entities

Following the $6.4B acquisition by PE firm Advent International, the now private company has split into Maxar Space Infrastructure and Maxar Intelligence, with two separate CEOs. The new entities have also downsized and believe the new structure will help generate more growth.

Chart of the Week

ARK Buys the Dip in Rocket Lab: With $RKLB shares falling by double digits in back-to-back weeks, Cathie Wood of ARK Invest Space Exploration & Innovation ETF ($ARKX) stepped in and made her first purchase of a space SPAC in a few months, picking up 207K shares worth $936K. 

Links

• Ten Satellites Incorporating Terran Orbital's ($LLAP) Buses Launch as Part of SDA’s Tranche 0 Mission• Sidus ($SIDU) Secures Position on Upcoming SpaceX Bandwagon Mission• Terran Orbital ($LLAP) Announces Pricing of $32.5M Offering• Momentus ($MNTS) To Provide Delivery Service for Aarhus University Payload• Viasat ($VSAT) Announces Pricing of $733.4M of Senior Notes• Spire ($SPIR) Awarded $2.8M Contract by NOAA for Satellite Weather Data• Intuitive Machines ($LUNR) Files S-1 Prospectus Related to 9.4M Warrants and 14.1M Common Stock

Opinion

• Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) Recent Setback: Implications and Financial Outlook• SpaceX Launches a Debate on Monopolies• Battle of the Funds: Do VC Specialists Outperform Generalists?• The Artemis Accords: Changing the Narrative From Space Race to Space Cooperation