Rocket Lab Posts Record $268 Million Revenue as Backlog Jumps 52% to $3.57 Billion

Rocket Lab reported record third-quarter revenue of $267.8 million on Monday, up 73% from a year earlier and above its own guide.

The results were released after Monday's close. They cover the quarter ended September 30, 2026.

Backlog is the estimated value of contracted work not yet performed. Rocket Lab builds rockets, satellites and spacecraft components for commercial and government missions.

Founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck called it a defining quarter. "Q3 2026 was a defining quarter for Rocket Lab. We delivered a record $268 million in revenue ($34 million higher than Q2 2026) alongside a record backlog which has grown to $3.57 billion."

Revenue beat the guide; the loss widened on deal costs

Total revenue was $267.8 million, up 73% from $155.1 million a year earlier. The company's own guide, set in August, was $250 million to $265 million.

The desk scores the quarter against that guide, the expectations the company set in August. No outside consensus set is printed, because the carried estimates conflict on value and basis.

Space Systems brought in $214.8 million of revenue. Launch Services, the Electron and HASTE rocket business, brought in $53.1 million.

Product revenue was $197.5 million and service revenue was $70.3 million. Both lines are reported on the standard accounting basis, known as GAAP.

GAAP gross profit was $90.1 million. The gross margin was 33.6%, a TickerGrove calculation, above the guided 29% to 31%.

The non-GAAP gross margin, which leaves out some costs, was 38.4%. It also beat the guide, which had ranged from 35% to 37%.

The GAAP net loss was $79.7 million, or $0.12 a share. A year earlier, the loss was $18.3 million, or $0.03 a share.

Two items widened the loss. A loss on extinguishment of debt cost $27.3 million, and transaction costs were $21.3 million.

The year-earlier quarter also carried a $41.1 million income tax benefit. This quarter carried a $3.5 million tax provision instead.

Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $18.0 million. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure, the company's preferred operating gauge, and the guide had called for a loss of $17 million to $23 million.

Operating cash flow was positive at $7.2 million on a GAAP basis. The company stated that figure in its highlights for the quarter.

Over the first nine months of 2026, operating activities used $127.3 million of cash, the release's cash-flow statement shows.

Backlog added $1.2 billion in one quarter

Remaining backlog was $3.57 billion at September 30. At the end of the second quarter, it was $2.36 billion.

The increase was 52% in one quarter, the company said. About $470 million was signed for Space Systems in the quarter.

Approximately $1 billion came from new launch contracts signed in the quarter. They span Electron, HASTE and Neutron, the reusable rocket still in development.

Total launch backlog reached 117 launches, a record. Neutron alone accounts for 16 of those missions, none of them flown yet.

Neutron contracts secured in the quarter topped $515 million. The base launch price rose to $70 million for several of these missions.

First launch is now targeted for no earlier than 2027. The company said flight hardware is being delivered to Launch Complex 3.

About 33% of the backlog is expected to be recognized within 12 months. The rest sits beyond that window, the filing said.

The Iridium deal is funded, and the guide rises again

The pending Iridium Communications acquisition is fully funded, the company said. It completed an at-the-market equity offering, which sells new shares gradually into the market.

Iridium's lenders approved keeping its credit facility after the deal. Iridium shareholders also approved the acquisition overwhelmingly, the release said.

Cash and cash equivalents were $4.45 billion at September 30. At the end of 2025, they were $828.7 million.

For the fourth quarter, the company guided revenue of $270 million to $290 million. It guided a GAAP gross margin of 34% to 36%.

It guided a non-GAAP gross margin of 39% to 41%. It guided an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $14 million to $20 million.

What remains unknown

What remains unknown starts with the market verdict: the results came after Monday's close. No settled reaction exists yet, and the first settled verdict comes Tuesday.

When Neutron actually flies is unproven beyond the new floor of 2027. The 16 sold missions wait on a rocket that has not flown.

When the pending Iridium acquisition closes is also open. The release confirms funding and two approvals, not a closing date.

Whether the record backlog converts into revenue on schedule is untested. A third of it is due within 12 months.

Tuesday brings the first settled verdict

What to watch: Tuesday's first settled session after the results. It will show whether investors price the revenue beat or the wider loss.

The fourth-quarter report is the second test. It scores the $270 million to $290 million guide given in this release.

Neutron's path to a 2027 first launch is the third test. Each hardware milestone either holds that floor or pushes it out.