Rocket Lab released its earnings yesterday, let’s take a closer look.
Let’s start with the big announcements:
-BlackSky signed a 5 launch contract for electron. Bringing the total contracted launches from BlackSky to eleven!
-A “confidential” customer signed a launch contract for HASTE in 2024.
-Targeting 4 launches this quarter and targeting 15 launches for the whole year.
-Targeting 20 launches for 2024.
Next, let’s look at some Rocket Lab programs:
-ESCAPADE (the mars mission) is on track and will be ready for launch in 2024.
-The MDA, Globalstar program is on track.
Next is Neutron development
Neutron development is also on track.
-They finished the stage 2 tank and a qualification campaign will begin in Q3.
-The stage 2 cryogenic test stand rig is build, ready for testing.
-LC-3 pad earthworks commenced.
The Neutron engine, Archimedes has also met a few milestones:
-Trust Chamber development on schedule.
-Injector development testing underway.
-Avionics hardware built and HITL testing underway.
Here are some upcoming milestones for Neutron in 2023:
-Stage 2 structural & cryogenic test campaign
-V1.0 avionics and orbital flights complete in HITL environment
-Stage 1 qualification infrastructure completion
-First development Archimedes engine build completed and test campaign started.
Now lets do a deeper dive into the financials:
In Q2 Rocket Lab generated $62M in revenue, $39.6M came from Space Systems and $22.5M came from launch. This is a $7.2M increase or 13% compared to the previous quarter.
Backlog increased $40.1M, this is the first time we’ve seen a backlog increase in over a year!
Q2 GAAP Gross Margins were 11.6%, in Q3 they were 23.5% representing a healthy increase.
GAAP SG&A expenses increased by $200k due to M&A costs of the Virgin Orbit facility.
GAAP R&D expenses increased by $7.1M due to a higher headcount, and to support the Neutron and space systems programs.
Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow increased by $300K. In large due to the Virgin Orbit acquisition, without the acquisition, Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow would’ve been -$16.7M compared to -$38.1M from Q2.
This represents a road to profitability.
They ended Q2 with $419M in cash and cash equivalents.
Now let’s take a look at the Q3 guidance:
-Expect revenue to range from $70-$73M, with $30M coming from launch and 40-$43M coming from space systems.
-Expect Gross margin to range between 21-23%
-Expect an adjusted EBITDA loss of 10-$14M.