The search for high-growth stocks often involves a blend of technical and fundamental analysis, aiming to identify companies with both strong price momentum and accelerating business performance. One systematic approach to this is combining Mark Minervini's Trend Template with a High Growth Momentum (HGM) screen. The Trend Template filters for stocks showing powerful, multi-timeframe uptrends, ensuring they are in a confirmed bullish stage. The HGM rating then adds a fundamental lens, scoring companies based on the strength and direction of their earnings and revenue growth. This dual-filter method aims to isolate leaders that are not only technically strong but also fundamentally set for expansion.
Rocket Lab Corp. (NASDAQ:RKLB) has appeared as a candidate from this strict screening process. The company, a key participant in the small satellite launch and space systems market, seems to fit the criteria looked for by momentum and growth-focused investors.
Technical Strength: Fitting the Minervini Trend Template
The center of Minervini's methodology is finding stocks in a clear Stage 2 advance, marked by rising moving averages and performance above the broader market. RKLB's current chart shows several signs of this template.
- Trend Position: The stock is trading well above all its key simple moving averages. The current price of $78.14 sits above the rising 50-day ($56.42), 150-day ($48.75), and 200-day ($41.97) averages. Importantly, the 50-day average is above the 150-day, which is above the 200-day, creating the ordered, bullish position the template needs.
- Nearness to Highs: A principle of the strategy is to focus on strength, not deep value. RKLB is trading within 2% of its 52-week high of $79.83, showing it is a market leader, not a laggard. Furthermore, its price is over 430% above its 52-week low, signaling a powerful recovery and uptrend have already been formed.
- Better Relative Strength: Leadership is measured by relative strength (RS). With a ChartMill Relative Strength score of 97.8, RKLB is performing better than nearly 98% of all stocks in the market over the past year. This outstanding RS is a required filter in the Trend Template, as it confirms institutional demand and sector leadership.
This technical view indicates the stock is in a confirmed uptrend with strong momentum, satisfying the exact mechanical checks that describe a Minervini-style setup.
Fundamental Momentum: The Argument for High Growth
While the Trend Template makes sure a stock is in the right technical position, the High Growth Momentum rating examines the fundamental engine pushing the move. For a company like Rocket Lab, this is about capturing the growth of the new space economy.
- Strong Revenue Path: The company is showing significant top-line growth. Revenue for the trailing twelve months (TTM) is up over 52% year-over-year. More recently, last quarter's sales grew nearly 48% compared to the same period a year ago. This steady, high-double-digit growth is a main fuel for stock price increase and a key part of growth investing.
- Earnings Path and Analyst View: Although the company is not yet consistently profitable on a net income basis, there is positive movement in its earnings path. The most recent quarter showed EPS growth of 70% year-over-year. Perhaps more indicative is analyst opinion: the average estimate for next year's earnings has been adjusted upward by over 13% in the last three months. Such upward adjustments often come before further price strength as expectations are set higher.
- Business Performance: The company has a good history of beating expectations, with positive earnings surprises in three of the last four quarters, averaging an 18% beat. This history of performance builds trust with investors and supports the high-growth story.
These factors add to a solid HGM profile, signaling the company's fundamental growth story is sound and speeding up, which fits the "fundamentals" part of Minervini's broader SEPA (Specific Entry Point Analysis) strategy.
Technical Condition and Current Position
A review of the detailed ChartMill Technical Analysis for RKLB confirms the stock's solid condition while offering a note of warning for immediate entry. The report gives RKLB a perfect Technical Rating of 10 out of 10, noting its steady performance across both short and long-term timeframes and its leadership position within the Aerospace & Defense industry, where it performs better than 95% of its peers.
The summary notes the long and short-term trends are both positive and that the stock is trading near its 52-week high in line with the market. However, the report also gives important context for a tactical entry. It assigns a lower Setup Rating of 3, signaling that while the stock is technically very good, its recent steep price move, up over 58% in the past month, has left it stretched. The analysis suggests volatility has been too high to find a low-risk entry point with a well-defined stop-loss, advising that investors "wait for a consolidation first." This points out the difference between a great stock and a great setup, a main idea in disciplined trading.
Locating Comparable Opportunities
Rocket Lab offers a strong example of a stock that meets strict technical and growth filters. For investors looking to use this method to find other possible candidates, the screening process that found RKLB can be copied.
You can examine the current list of stocks meeting similar High Growth Momentum and Trend Template criteria via this pre-configured screen on ChartMill.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. The analysis is based on data provided and certain screening methodologies. All investing and trading involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. Readers should conduct their own research and consider their individual financial circumstances before making any investment decisions. Please read our full disclaimer here.
