President Donald Trump threatened to cut Elon Musk's government contracts
The ongoing feud between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump is creating tailwinds for earth exploration (EO) competitors AST SpaceMobile Inc (NASDAQ:ASTS) and Rocket Lab USA Inc (NASDAQ:RKLB).
Trump and Musk have been trading barbs on social media over a tax and spending bill, with Trump suggesting over the weekend he may cut Musk's government contracts, and Musk threatening to decommission SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on X before reversing course.
ASTS is up 14.1% to trade at $35.58 at last glance, and earlier hit a new 2025 peak of $36.66. Shares are well on their its way to a sixth-consecutive pop and best day since April, with support from all key long- and short-term moving averages. The stock sports a 320.4% year-to-date lead and has already added over 70% so far this year.
RKLB was last seen up 6.4% to trade at $30.77, after surging to $32.70 out of the gate, a chip shot from its Jan. 24 record high of $33.24. The shares have been in an uptrend since a double bottom around $16 in the spring. On track for a fifth gain over the last six sessions, Rocket Lab USA stock has added a whopping 596.6% over the past 12 months.
Both equities are getting blasted in the options pits today, with ASTS and RKLB each seeing triple the volume typically seen at this point. Most popular for the former is the June 40 call, and for the latter it's weekly 6/13 32-strike call, with new positions being opened at both.