CW
Curtiss-Wright Corporation
CW has a slight edge over RKLB overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
RKLB
Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
RKLB offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CW Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
CW's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable.
RKLB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Under pressure | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
RKLB's revenue is currently strong, but its profitability and cash flow are under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
CW PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 21x | $311 | -35% |
| Fair | 25x | $369 | -23% |
| Forward | 28x | $477 | — |
| Current | 32x | $477 | — |
| Expensive | 40x | $606 | +27% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CW's PE is in its expensive range at 32x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 28x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
RKLB PE Valuation
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CW Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CW, with profitability improving.
RKLB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect RKLB's losses to shrink, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
CW Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $16.90 | +13% |
| Q3 2026 | $14.99 | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $14.53 | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $13.65 | +21% |
| Q4 2025 | $12.87 | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $12.27 | +16% |
| Q2 2025 | $11.85 | +16% |
| Q1 2025 | $11.24 | +16% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.55 | +15% |
CW has the edge over RKLB on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
RKLB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.36 | +$0.03 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.27 | +$0.19 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.32 | +$0.09 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.37 | +$0.01 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.39 | -$0.02 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.46 | -$0.11 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.41 | -$0.04 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.38 | $0.00 |
RKLB is still losing money, but less than at its worst: $0.36 per share over the past year, against $0.46 at its worst in mid-2025.
CW Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $952.6M | +9.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $924M | +5.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $913.7M | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $947M | +15% |
| Q3 2025 | $869.2M | +8.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $876.6M | +12% |
| Q1 2025 | $805.6M | +13% |
| Q4 2024 | $824.3M | +4.9% |
CW's revenue has grown year over year for 17 quarters in a row: $953M last quarter, up 9.6% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 20% | +0.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +1.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | +1.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 19% | +0.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 19% | +1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 18% | +1.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 16% | +2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | -1.7 points |
CW has the edge over RKLB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
RKLB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $267.8M | +73% |
| Q2 2026 | $234.1M | +62% |
| Q1 2026 | $200.3M | +63% |
| Q4 2025 | $179.7M | +36% |
| Q3 2025 | $155.1M | +48% |
| Q2 2025 | $144.5M | +36% |
| Q1 2025 | $122.6M | +32% |
| Q4 2024 | $132.4M | +121% |
RKLB has the edge over CW on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -30% | +8.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | -25% | +17 points |
| Q1 2026 | -28% | +20 points |
| Q4 2025 | -28% | +11 points |
| Q3 2025 | -38% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -41% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | -48% | -1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | -39% | +41 points |
RKLB's operating margin was −30% last quarter, up 8.5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
CW Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $140.4M | -20% |
| Q2 2026 | $151.7M | +29% |
| Q1 2026 | -$17.5M | +$37.1M |
| Q4 2025 | $315.1M | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $175.9M | +8.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $117.2M | +17% |
| Q1 2025 | -$54.5M | +$3.2M |
| Q4 2024 | $278M | +3.1% |
CW has the edge over RKLB on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
RKLB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$23.9M | +$45.5M |
| Q2 2026 | -$110.1M | -$54.8M |
| Q1 2026 | -$77.4M | +$5.5M |
| Q4 2025 | -$114.2M | -$90.2M |
| Q3 2025 | -$69.4M | -$27.5M |
| Q2 2025 | -$55.3M | -$26.9M |
| Q1 2025 | -$82.9M | -$61.1M |
| Q4 2024 | -$23.9M | +$28.7M |
RKLB has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$326M over the past year, against −$232M the year before.
CW Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.7% | -270K shares |
| 1 year | -2.2% | -813K shares |
| 3 years | -4.4% | -1.7M shares |
| 5 years | -10% | -4.1M shares |
| Available history | -14% | -6.2M shares |
CW has the edge over RKLB on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $352.4M |
| Q2 2026 | $14.7M |
| Q1 2026 | $14.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $139.8M |
| Q3 2025 | $290M |
| Q2 2025 | $20.8M |
| Q1 2025 | $14.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $112.4M |
CW spent $522M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 19% from the year before.
RKLB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +3.6% | +22.6M shares |
| 1 year | +23% | +124M shares |
| 3 years | +35% | +168M shares |
| 5 years | +46% | +204M shares |
RKLB has 652M diluted shares, up 23% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
CW Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 1.0x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Healthy |
CW's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from a year a year ago.
RKLB Net Leverage
RKLB's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
CW Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 29.6 | Oversold |
| Stochastic | 10.4 | Oversold |
CW's weekly RSI is 30 (oversold) and its Stochastic is 10 (oversold).
RKLB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 46.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 27.6 | Neutral |
RKLB's weekly RSI is 47 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 28 (neutral).
CW PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CW | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 32x | 24x | 32% above |
| PE % | 72 | 58 | 14 pts above |
CW is trading at 32x earnings, a 32% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
RKLB PE vs Industrials Sector
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CW Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $497.7 | 4.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $599.7 | 20% below |
| 50 week MA | $645.7 | 26% below |
| 100 week MA | $539.5 | 12% below |
| 200 week MA | $388.5 | 23% above |
CW has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 23% above its 200-week average.
RKLB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $61.4 | 4.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $68.1 | 5.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $77.6 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $56.5 | 13% above |
| 200 week MA | $31.4 | 104% above |
RKLB has the edge over CW on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
CW Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $141.7 | $113.3 | -20% |
| 2021 | $113.3 | $135.9 | +20% |
| 2022 | $135.9 | $165.0 | +21% |
| 2023 | $165.0 | $222.8 | +35% |
| 2024 | $222.8 | $359.4 | +61% |
| 2025 | $359.4 | $566.2 | +58% |
| 2026 YTD | $566.2 | $477.0 | -16% |
CW has finished higher in five of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's down 16% so far in 2026.
RKLB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $9.82 | $10.3 | +4.9% |
| 2021 | $10.3 | $12.0 | +17% |
| 2022 | $12.0 | $3.77 | -69% |
| 2023 | $3.77 | $5.53 | +47% |
| 2024 | $5.53 | $27.2 | +392% |
| 2025 | $27.2 | $70.7 | +160% |
| 2026 YTD | $70.7 | $64.1 | -9.3% |
RKLB has the edge over CW on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.