KAI
Kadant Inc.
KAI 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.
KAI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
KAI's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
KAI PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 20x | $198 | -33% |
| Forward | 22x | $295 | — |
| Current | 30x | $295 | — |
| Fair | 31x | $306 | +3.7% |
| Expensive | 36x | $356 | +21% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KAI's PE is in its fair range at 30x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 22x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
RKLB PE Valuation
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
KAI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for KAI, 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.
KAI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $13.52 | +36% |
| Q3 2026 | $9.91 | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.30 | +3.6% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.77 | -6.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.65 | -8.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.65 | -11% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.98 | -7.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $9.42 | -1.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.48 | -4.2% |
KAI 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.
KAI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $313.2M | +15% |
| Q2 2026 | $312.9M | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $281.5M | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $286.2M | +11% |
| Q3 2025 | $271.6M | 0% |
| Q2 2025 | $255.3M | -7.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $239.2M | -3.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $258M | +8.1% |
KAI's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $313M last quarter, up 15% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 16% | +0.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 14% | -0.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -0.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 16% | -2.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | -2.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 14% | -2 points |
KAI 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 KAI 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.
KAI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $58.1M | +32% |
| Q2 2026 | $42.6M | +17% |
| Q1 2026 | $18.7M | -1.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $54.7M | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $44.1M | -8.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $36.5M | +58% |
| Q1 2025 | $19M | +15% |
| Q4 2024 | $46.3M | -6.4% |
KAI 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.
KAI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +10K shares |
| 1 year | +0.2% | +27K shares |
| 3 years | +0.8% | +89K shares |
| 5 years | +1.4% | +161K shares |
| Available history | +3.2% | +372K shares |
KAI has the edge over RKLB on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
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 | — |
KAI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q3 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.9x | Very low |
KAI's net debt is about 1.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than 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.
KAI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 51.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 33.9 | Neutral |
KAI's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
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).
KAI PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | KAI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 30x | 24x | 24% above |
| PE % | 47 | 58 | 11 pts below |
KAI is trading at 30x earnings, a 24% 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.
KAI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $272.9 | 8.2% above |
| 20 week MA | $291.8 | 1.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $303.9 | 2.8% below |
| 100 week MA | $314.2 | 6% below |
| 200 week MA | $291.2 | 1.4% above |
KAI's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 1.4% 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's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 104% above its 200-week average.
KAI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $105.8 | $137.3 | +30% |
| 2021 | $137.3 | $224.2 | +63% |
| 2022 | $224.2 | $177.0 | -21% |
| 2023 | $177.0 | $280.3 | +58% |
| 2024 | $280.3 | $350.8 | +25% |
| 2025 | $350.8 | $293.9 | -16% |
| 2026 YTD | $293.9 | $295.4 | +0.5% |
KAI 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.