HXL
Hexcel Corporation
HXL has the edge over RKLB overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger valuation.
RKLB
Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
RKLB's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
HXL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable |
HXL's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue and balance sheet are 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.
HXL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 29x | $79.91 | — |
| Cheap | 32x | $71.17 | -11% |
| Current | 36x | $79.91 | — |
| Fair | 47x | $105 | +31% |
| Expensive | 66x | $146 | +83% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
HXL's PE is in its cheap range at 36x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 29x next year's earnings.
RKLB PE Valuation
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
HXL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for HXL, 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.
HXL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.72 | +23% |
| Q3 2026 | $2.22 | +161% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.98 | +83% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.51 | 0% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.37 | -14% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.85 | -35% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.08 | -15% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.51 | +29% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.59 | +28% |
HXL 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.
HXL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $496.4M | +8.8% |
| Q2 2026 | $529.3M | +8% |
| Q1 2026 | $501.5M | +9.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $491.3M | +3.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $456.2M | -0.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $489.9M | -2.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $456.5M | -3.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $473.8M | +3.6% |
HXL's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $496M last quarter, up 8.8% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 11% | +3.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | +7.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 11% | +1.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 13% | +11 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7.9% | -3.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 6.1% | -8.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9.7% | -1.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 1.9% | -8.5 points |
HXL 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 HXL on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| 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.
HXL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $50.7M | -47% |
| Q2 2026 | $58M | +625% |
| Q1 2026 | -$6.2M | +$48.4M |
| Q4 2025 | $107.3M | -25% |
| Q3 2025 | $96.5M | +32% |
| Q2 2025 | $8M | -62% |
| Q1 2025 | -$54.6M | -$18.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $144M | -0.8% |
HXL 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.
HXL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +200K shares |
| 1 year | -4.5% | -3.6M shares |
| 3 years | -10% | -8.9M shares |
| 5 years | -9.4% | -8M shares |
| Available history | -11% | -9.1M shares |
HXL has the edge over RKLB on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | $353.4M |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $50.5M |
| Q1 2025 | $50.4M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
HXL spent $353M buying back its own shares over the past year, about four times what it spent 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 | — |
HXL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.2x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 1.9x | Healthy |
HXL's net debt is about 2.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 2.8 years 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.
HXL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 39.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 8.0 | Oversold |
HXL's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 8 (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).
HXL PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | HXL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 36x | 24x | 50% above |
| PE % | 24 | 58 | 34 pts below |
HXL is trading at 36x earnings, a 50% 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.
HXL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $83.1 | 3.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $92.5 | 14% below |
| 50 week MA | $88.3 | 9.5% below |
| 100 week MA | $74.5 | 7.2% above |
| 200 week MA | $71.2 | 12% above |
HXL has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 12% 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 HXL on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
HXL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $73.8 | $48.8 | -34% |
| 2021 | $48.8 | $51.4 | +5.3% |
| 2022 | $51.4 | $58.0 | +13% |
| 2023 | $58.0 | $73.8 | +27% |
| 2024 | $73.8 | $63.1 | -14% |
| 2025 | $63.1 | $76.1 | +21% |
| 2026 YTD | $76.1 | $79.9 | +5% |
HXL has the edge over RKLB on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
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's yearly returns have swung widely, from +392% in 2024 to −69% in 2022. It's down 9.3% so far in 2026.