Breakfast News: "Hungry Hippo" Boosts Rocket Lab

Breakfast News: “Hungry Hippo” Boosts Rocket Lab

March 18, 2026

Source: Image created by Jester AI.

1. New Contract Lifts Rocket Lab by 10%

Rocket Lab (RKLB +10.10%) – a Stock Advisor Foundational Stock from Team Hidden Gems – closed 10% up yesterday, with investors optimistic ahead of new launches. Dubbed “Eight Days A Week” and “Daughter of the Stars,” the company’s next two Electron missions are planned for the coming week.

• “Hungry Hippo” ready to go: The curiously named fairing assembly for Rocket Lab’s Neutron rocket is now qualified for integration, the company announced, along with news of a new $816 million defense contract with the U.S. Space Development Agency.
• Down around 3% in pre-market trading: The stock lost some ground this morning on the back of a new equity offering announced late yesterday, valued at up to $1 billion. Rocket Lab is 55% ahead of the S&P 500 since its August 2025 SA rec.

2. AI Chip Competition Heating Up

Nvidia (NVDA 0.74%) has been approved to ship its H200 processors to customers in China, CEO Jensen Huang said at the company’s GTC conference yesterday, adding the export deal has clearance from U.S. authorities and from Beijing. Chinese AI stocks got a boost after Huang described OpenClaw AI as “definitely the next ChatGPT.”

• Samsung set for Tesla production: The South Korean electronics giant will start volume production of Tesla (TSLA +0.94%) chips at its Texas fabrication plant from the second half of 2027, Reuters reported. Samsung also revealed a $16.5 billion contract to supply semiconductors for Tesla’s autonomous driving development.
• Legal clouds over OpenAI deal?: The Financial Times, meanwhile, tells us Microsoft (MSFT 0.13%) is considering legal action against OpenAI and Amazon (AMZN +1.63%). The pair’s $50 billion tie-up to make Amazon Web Services the cloud provider for OpenAI’s Frontier could violate an earlier agreement with Microsoft’s Azure platform, the report says.

3. Tuesday Stock Advisor Earnings Catch-Up

Lululemon (LULU 0.40%) – recommended by both Team Hidden Gems and Team Rule Breakers_ – _dipped about 2% before the market opened today, after yesterday’s fourth-quarter results showed an 18% fall in EPS year over year (YoY). That was still ahead of Wall Street expectations.

• “Strengthen our brand, reaccelerate growth”: Interim co-CEO Meghan Frank spoke of the need to get the U.S. business growing again while maintaining international expansion, and pointed to the company’s strong customer loyalty.
• “AI has been transformative”: In a Q4 earnings call, DocuSign (DOCU +1.54%) CEO Allan Thygesen spoke of a “huge advantage using private consented agreements,” as the company – currently in the SA Penalty Box – faces threats from AI competition. The Team RB recommendation edged up around 2% overnight.

4. Key Results Before Wednesday’s Open

• General Mills (GIS 0.62%) reported an 8% fall in Q3 net sales YoY, to $4.4 billion, partly as a result of expected “impacts from investments to improve brand remarkability,” with adjusted EPS down 37%. The company maintained its full-year outlook for a 1.5% to 2% organic net sales dip, with EPS expected to decline 16% to 20%. The stock was essentially unchanged in early trading.
• Jabil (JBL +1.64%) hits the news with Q2 earnings due from the electronics manufacturing and supply specialist. After beating Q1 expectations on multiple metrics, the company will be looking for continuing strength from AI, data center, and cloud computing demands.
• Williams-Sonoma (WSM 0.10%) is due for a Q4 update, to close a year of macroeconomic and industry challenges. The home and kitchen retailer beat expectations in the previous quarter, but management expects tariffs to make a bigger impact on margins this time.

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