AFTER THE BELL
Space Trade finds a bit of Gravity. |
While the market is whipped into a SpaceX IPO fervor, there are always reminders to use caution when launching moon missions. Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket exploded during a ground fire test Thursday night, shaking the surrounding Cape Canaveral community. |
No one was harmed, but AST SpaceMobile, Rocket Lab, and other public space names sold off Friday after Blue Origin’s disaster. Even though Blue Origin is not a large revenue contributor to the firm by any means, Amazon sold off, and traders dumped the whole space basket. |
It is unknown what set off the fire and explosion, but NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency will investigate. It’s not the first mishap facing rockets this year- SpaceX Starship failed to perform a controlled burn while in orbit last week and crashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. The New Glenn rocket was recently grounded in April due to engine failure that set it in the wrong orbit. |
The RIP: $ASTS ( ▼ 14.79% ) fell 18%, $RDW ( ▼ 5.14% ) dropped 13%, $LUNR slid 12%, $FLY fell 9%, $RKLB dropped 7%, $UFO slid 7%, and $AMZN ( ▼ 1.23% ) fell 1%. New Glenn was set to launch next week with satellites on board. |
The useful question is whether this is real launch-risk repricing. AST SpaceMobile holders argued its next launches are contracted with SpaceX, not Blue Origin, while Rocket Lab holders said the failure makes reliable launch capacity more valuable. |
Top Posts |
@Southern_Investor: "The next several launches were contracted with SpaceX, not BlueOrigin." Post @BananaMan1: "it really highlights the importance of Rocket Lab in this arena." Post
|
Jump into $ASTS: launch risk or overreaction → |
|
The news did not affect just one space related stock: |
Virgin Galactic Finds Ignition |
Virgin Galactic, the space-tourism company everyone keeps accidentally turning into a SpaceX proxy, ripped Friday after a small legal-overhang win gave momentum traders one more excuse to pile in. |
The RIP: $SPCE jumped +43%. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted preliminary approval for a settlement that would send $2.75M from Virgin Galactic’s insurers to the company. Benzinga said the stock entered Friday already up +20% from Thursday’s move. |
The fundamental news is not huge. The tape is. Benzinga’s technical read had $SPCE trading far above its 20-day and 200-day moving averages, with RSI near 79 and analysts still sitting at a Hold rating with an average price target of $3.43. When Blue Origin floundered, Virgin flew as it restarted its flight tests for the VSS Unity spacecraft this week. |
@theburu: "$SPCE short squeeze INCOMING. people will try to rush in once they figure it out on Monday." Post @Heids24: "$SPCE Guys...guys...this is great! I didn't know SpaceX IPO was live already!!" Post
|
Jump into $SPCE: squeeze or space confusion → STOCKS
🔄 Sector Rotation Watch | Tech carried the week, but Friday’s board said the market was leaning on one leg and pretending it was cardio. | $XLK ( ▲ 2.23% ) Technology +5.9%: The AI infrastructure trade did almost all the heavy lifting after Micron, Dell, and Oracle gave traders fresh reasons to keep paying up for compute. $NVDAremains the sector’s cleanest tell, but $AVGO and $MSFT matter too because the market is treating cloud, chips, and servers like one giant capex machine. | $XLE ( ▼ 1.16% ) Energy -5.4%: Crude dropped -9.5% WTD as ceasefire hopes cooled the oil-war premium, and Energy lost its leadership badge fast. $XOM is the one to watch because the stock still has a strong YTD tape, but lower crude makes the dividend-and-discipline story do more work. | $XLP ( ▼ 1.8% ) Consumer Staples -2.2%: Staples lagged even after Costco gave the market a solid print, which says traders were not paying for safety while AI was still ripping. $COST is the tell: the business keeps humming, but the stock already trades like perfection has a membership card. | $XLY ( ▼ 0.98% ) Consumer Discretionary +1.5%: Discretionary finished green on the week despite Friday’s -0.9% slide, helped by retail earnings squeezes in Dollar Tree, Best Buy, and Kohl’s. $AMZN still sets the sector tone, but the retail read-through matters because low expectations are suddenly easier to clear. | Watch into next week: Monday’s ISM Manufacturing print and Friday’s May jobs report test whether this stays an AI-led market or broadens out. If growth cools without breaking, tech keeps the wheel. |
| |
| | |
| | | | | TRENDING ON STOCKS
Pops & Drops | | |
|
|
|
|
