Rocket Lab Stock Is Sliding Thursday: What's Going On?

Rocket Lab Corp (NASDAQ:RKLB) shares are trading lower Thursday afternoon, despite positive analyst coverage from Baird. The stock is potentially trading lower amid overall market weakness. RKLB shares are experiencing downward pressure. See if it is worth your attention here. What To Know: Baird analyst Peter Arment initiated coverage on Rocket Lab with an Outperform rating and set a price target of $83 on Thursday.The positive analyst initiation comes after Rocket Lab announced the successful launch of its “Owl New World” mission this week, marking the company’s 15th successful launch of 2025. The launch was part of an expanded 21-launch deal with the synthetic aperture radar company Synspective.Rocket Lab is targeting over 20 missions by the end of 2025, building on recent agreements with clients like the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.While the operational successes represent significant milestones, underscoring the company's growing role in the commercial satellite launch market, the stock failed to maintain upward momentum on Thursday.The dip comes amid a cautious broader market, where investors are weighing comments from Federal Reserve officials regarding future interest rate cuts and digesting unexpected loan losses from regional banks. With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq down late Thursday, the positive company-specific news for Rocket Lab was not enough to overcome wider market sentiment.Benzinga Edge Rankings: According to Benzinga Edge rankings, the stock has an exceptionally high Momentum score of 98.69.RKLB Price Action: Rocket shares were down 3.72% at $66.62 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Technical indicators reveal that Rocket Lab is trading well above both its 50-day moving average of $49.70 and its 200-day moving average of $33.06, indicating robust bullish sentiment.However, with the relative strength index (RSI) at 74.88, the stock is currently in overbought territory, suggesting that a pullback could be on the horizon.Read Also: S&P 500 Is Trading Like It’s 2000—History Shows What Happens Next Isn’t PrettyHow To Buy RKLB StockBesides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument. For example, in Rocket Lab’s case, it is in the Industrials sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.Image: Shutterstock