Space stocks including AST SpaceMobile $ASTS ( ▲ 13.33% ) , Planet Labs $PL ( ▲ 10.86% ) , and Rocket Lab $RKLB ( ▲ 17.19% ) ripped higher on Thursday as traders piled back into high-beta momentum names. These stocks, which tend to outperform on strong market days, are all part of Goldman Sachs’ themed basket tracking this trend.
There wasn’t much company-specific news driving the move, but a report from The Wall Street Journal may have added fuel. The story said OpenAI’s Sam Altman has been exploring ways to enter the space industry — including the possibility of challenging Tesla $TSLA ( ▼ 0.2% ) and its Starlink satellite network.
For this cluster of space companies, sentiment often trades on a simple dynamic: anything that disrupts or competes with Musk’s empire tends to spark excitement. Today’s rally seemed to follow that familiar pattern.