KeyBanc Raises Rklb Stock to Overweight With $135 Target
rklb stock fell 11% on Friday, then KeyBanc’s Michael Leshock raised Rocket Lab from Sector Weight to Overweight and set a $135 price target. The new target implies 32% upside from here, even after the shares were still trading 32% below the highs reached toward the end of May.
11% was the Friday drop that hit Rocket Lab after the record-breaking SpaceX IPO helped trigger a broader selloff in space-focused stocks. For holders who bought near the May peak, the new target gives a fresh reference point: Leshock’s valuation sits well above the stock’s recent trading range.
Michael Leshock’s $135 view
$135 is the clearest number in the note because it turns the upgrade into a concrete valuation call. Leshock said Rocket Lab is the “clear #2 to SPCX” and argued that the space economy “could be as significant as the Industrial Revolution.”
9 other analysts are already in the bull camp, and three additional Holds still leave Rocket Lab with a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average target is $108.07, which points to 6% 12-month returns, so Leshock’s call sits well above the Street average.
Rocket Lab backlog and Neutron
$2.2 billion was Rocket Lab’s record backlog at the end of Q1, up 20% sequentially and more than 100% year-over-year. Leshock said that scale, along with Rocket Lab’s satellite design, manufacturing, and launch heritage, leaves it among the best positioned to adapt to a dynamic market.
90 successful missions for Electron and more than 95% vertical integration across the satellite bus give the company operating proof points that the market can measure, not just promise. Rocket Lab is also over 90% integrated on its Electron rocket, and Neutron remains on track for its first launch later this year after the January testing anomaly was fully resolved.
Rocket Lab’s 2H26 catalyst
$700 million is the estimated opportunity tied to the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter contract, with an award expected in 2H26. Rocket Lab is also set to be added to the Nasdaq-100 on June 22, 2026, giving the stock another index-linked milestone while the shares work through the gap left by Friday’s selloff.
32% upside from the new target leaves investors with a simple near-term test: whether Rocket Lab can keep executing on backlog growth, Neutron timing, and capital intensity while the stock tries to recover from the post-IPO washout in the space group.
