Rocket Lab and Fluor: 2 Industrial Stocks to Buy in April
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- Rocket Lab reported full-year revenue of $602 million and completed 21 launches, while Wall Street projects revenue could climb to $880 million in 2026 and the company could reach profitability by early 2027.
- Rocket Lab's contract backlog hit $1.85 billion, a 73% year-over-year jump, bolstered by an $816 million Space Development Agency contract for missile-warning satellites and a $190 million hypersonic test contract.
- Rocket Lab received approval to acquire Mynaric on March 30, expanding its reach into the German and European space industry; the stock is up 265% over the past 12 months with a market cap above $36 billion.
- Fluor posted 2025 revenue of $15.5 billion against a $25.5 billion backlog, with 81% of backlog contracts now structured as reimbursable—shifting execution risk from Fluor back to clients.
- Fluor is funding $1.4 billion in 2026 share buybacks partly through sales of its NuScale Power stake, and trades at a forward P/E near 16 with a PEG ratio of 1.2 after a 20% year-to-date stock gain.
Why it matters: Rocket Lab's 265% twelve-month rally is now backed by $1.85 billion in backlog and major U.S. defense contracts, showing commercial space is converting into real government revenue. Fluor's shift to 81% reimbursable contracts is a structural de-risking that gives investors exposure to AI, defense, and energy infrastructure spending without the legacy fixed-price margin risk that long haunted the stock.
