Rocket Lab Announces Full Year & Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results, Posts Record Revenue Representing 26% Sequential Growth, 78% Annual Growth and 121% Year-on-Year Quarterly Growth

LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 27, 2025-- 

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab", "the Company", "we," "us," or "our"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today shared the financial results for fiscal fourth quarter, ended December 31, 2024.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, said: "2024 was a record-setting year for Rocket Lab, with our highest annual revenue ever posted of $436.2 million and a record Q4 2024 revenue of $132.4 million -- a 382% increase compared to Q4 2021, our first full quarter following our debut on the Nasdaq as a publicly-traded company. Top achievements across launch and space systems include a record number of 16 launches for Electron in 2024 (a 60% increase in launch cadence compared to 2023) and more than $450 million in newly-secured launch and space systems contracts. We rounded out the year with significant advancement across the Neutron program ahead of a planned debut launch in the second half of 2025. The Company's strong performance across launch and space systems is foundational to Rocket Lab's momentum toward delivering its own satellite service as a truly end-to-end space company. This has been bolstered in Q1 2025 with the introduction of our new constellation-class satellite platform designed for mass manufacture, named Flatellite. Applicable to national security, defense, and commercial services, the new satellite also signals a bold, strategic step toward potential paths for operating our own future constellation."

Business Highlights for the Full Year & Fourth Quarter 2024, plus updates since December 31, 2024.

Launch:

   -- 
 Achieved a record year of 16 Electron launches in 2024, up 60% on the 
      year prior, with a booked manifest which supports more than 20 Electron 
      and HASTE launches for 2025 across both single satellite and 
      constellation deployment missions and hypersonic technology test 
      missions. 
 
 
   -- 
 Signed a second multi-launch Electron contract in Q1 2025 with 
      Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS), a Japan-based Earth 
      imaging company. Along with an earlier multi-launch contract signed in 
      2024 with iQPS, the combined contracts represent one of the largest 
      Electron launch agreements to date. 
 
 
   -- 
 Selected by Kratos to support a $1.45 billion five-year federal 
      contract for hypersonic flight testing under the MACH-TB 2.0 Contract 
      Award. 
 
 
   -- 
 Successfully completed the fourth of five dedicated launches for Kineis 
      in Q1 2025, with Electron expected to launch the fifth and final mission 
      in the coming weeks to complete full constellation deployment in less 
      than a year for the French Internet-of-Things (IoT) constellation 
      operator. 
 
 
   -- 
 Revealed details about Rocket Lab's plans for a new ocean landing 
      platform for Neutron missions returning to Earth. Named 'Return On 
      Investment,' the landing platform is expected to open space access 
      further by enabling even more mission opportunities that require maximum 
      Neutron performance. 
 
 
   -- 
 Shared progress on Neutron's development ahead of planned debut launch 
      of the new reusable medium-lift rocket in the second half of 2025. 
 

Space Systems:

   -- 
 Introduced a new low-cost satellite tailored for mass manufacture to 
      serve large satellite constellations. Named Flatellite, the satellite is 
      a scalable and resilient platform that offers high-speed connectivity and 
      remote sensing capabilities. It has been designed to meet the needs of 
      the national security, defense, and commercial markets, and signals a 
      potential next step in Rocket Lab developing, launching and operating its 
      own constellation to deliver data and services from space. 
 
 
   -- 
 Celebrated mission success for the latest Rocket Lab Pioneer spacecraft 
      which successfully operated in space, then deployed to Earth, Varda's 
      latest orbital processing and hypersonic reentry mission. 
 
 
   -- 
 Rocket Lab's third Pioneer spacecraft produced for Varda has already 
      been completed and delivered for launch in early March, the second that 
      Rocket Lab has delivered for launch within a month. 
 
 
   -- 
 Completed significant program milestones across two Rocket Lab 
      spacecraft programs advancing U.S. national defense: comprehensive 
      multi-day design reviews for Rocket Lab's 18 spacecraft program for the 
      Space Development Agency's $(SDA)$ Tranche 2 Transport Layer-Beta 
      (T2TL-Beta) constellation, and for the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS HAZE 
      program, a $32 million responsive space mission with Electron and Rocket 
      Lab's own spacecraft that will launch with only 24 hours' notice. 
 

First Quarter 2025 Guidance

For the first quarter of 2025, Rocket Lab expects:

   -- 
 Revenue between $117 million and $123 million. 
 
 
   -- 
 GAAP Gross Margins between 25% and 27%. 
 
 
   -- 
 Non-GAAP Gross Margins between 30% and 32%. 
 
 
   -- 
 GAAP Operating Expenses between $93 million and $95 million. 
 
 
   -- 
 Non-GAAP Operating Expenses between $77 million and $79 million. 
 
 
   -- 
 Expected Interest Expense (Income), net $2.7 million. 
 
 
   -- 
 Adjusted EBITDA loss of $33 million and $35 million. 
 
 
   -- 
 Basic Weighted Average Common Shares Outstanding of 458 million, 
      excluding approximately 51 million of Series A Convertible Participating 
      Preferred Stock. 
 

See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for an explanation of our use of Non-GAAP financial measures, and the reconciliation of historical Non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures in the tables attached to this press release. We have not provided a reconciliation for the forward-looking Non-GAAP Gross Margin, Non-GAAP Operating Expenses or Adjusted EBITDA expectations for Q1 2025 described above because, without unreasonable efforts, we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty the amount and timing of adjustments that are used to calculate these non-GAAP financial measures, particularly related to stock-based compensation and its related tax effects. Stock-based compensation is currently expected to range from $16 million to $18 million in Q1 2025.

Conference Call Information

Rocket Lab will host a conference call for investors at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) today to discuss these business highlights and financial results for our fourth quarter, to provide our outlook for the first quarter, and other updates.

The live webcast and a replay of the webcast will be available on Rocket Lab's Investor Relations website: https://investors.rocketlabusa.com/events-and-presentations/events

About Rocket Lab

Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, a family of flight-proven spacecraft, and the Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered more than 200 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations of financial results for the first quarter of 2025, launch and space systems operations, launch schedule and window, safe and repeatable access to space, Neutron development and anticipated timeline to launch, operational expansion and business strategy are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "may," "will," "estimate," "potential," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "expect," "strategy," "future," "could," "would," "project," "plan," "target," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the factors, risks and uncertainties included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange

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February 27, 2025 16:15 ET (21:15 GMT)