Ark Invest Buys Rocket Lab Shares Following Neutron Rocket Schedule Delay

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased roughly 25.1 million dollars worth of Rocket Lab shares on September 22, according to AOL.com. The investment firm increased its holdings even after the aerospace company delayed the inaugural launch of its reusable medium-lift Neutron rocket to 2027. [1]

AOL.com reported that Ark Invest simultaneously sold 5.8 million dollars of Alphabet stock. The outlet stated that Ark Invest is positioning for a potential shortage in rocket launch capacity, though execution risks and high valuation remain concerns for the firm. [1]

Rocket Lab manufactures space systems and operates the small-lift Electron rocket, which has completed more than 75 missions as of January 2026. The upcoming Neutron rocket is currently in development to handle medium-lift operations, including constellation deployments, interplanetary missions, and crewed spaceflight. As FTMQ Space reported earlier, Rocket Lab shares previously fell 7.8 percent after the company postponed the first launch of Neutron to 2027. [10][11]

Market outlets have highlighted differing factors surrounding Rocket Lab, with scanx.trade reporting that the company's stock rose 4.4 percent following strong third-quarter results from competitor SpaceX. Meanwhile, Foreign Policy Journal reported that the Neutron delay originally pushed the stock to two-thirds below its peak, and AD HOC NEWS noted that Rocket Lab maintains a full order backlog while its medium-lift rocket remains in development. [3][4][7]