GD vs. RKLB: General Dynamics vs. Rocket Lab Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB) are both classified in the Aerospace & Defense sub-industry within the broader Aerospace & Defense industry, placing them in the closest GICS peer bucket.

General Dynamics (GD) has more than two decades of public-market history since January 2, 1962, whereas Rocket Lab (RKLB) listed on November 24, 2020 and has a much shorter record to draw on.

Company profile comparison for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Profile Item	GD	RKLB
Name	General Dynamics Corp.	Rocket Lab Corporation
Country/Region	United States	United States
GICS Sector	Industrials	Industrials
GICS Industry Group	Capital Goods	Capital Goods
GICS Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Aerospace & Defense
GICS Sub-Industry	Aerospace & Defense	Aerospace & Defense
Market Capitalization	95.68 billion USD	33.93 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	Nasdaq
Listing Date	January 2, 1962	November 24, 2020
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

RKLB

GSPC

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Total Return (1Y)	6.52%	12.96%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	16.95%	138.86%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	14.65%	31.49%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

RKLB

GSPC

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Rocket Lab (RKLB) has a highly aggressive beta of 3.14, indicating much higher sensitivity to broad-market moves, while General Dynamics (GD) is defensive at 0.30 and tends to be less market-sensitive — a wide gap in beta profiles.

Risk profile metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	23.03%	95.71%
Beta (5Y)	0.30	3.14
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-22.55%	-78.32%
Avg. Volume (3M)	1.19M	19.51M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

GD and RKLB are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. The dashed Capital Allocation Line runs from the risk-free rate through the shared industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	0.10	0.09
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	0.15	0.14

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) reports a negative ROE of -7.92%; negative ROE can reflect losses or negative shareholders’ equity, so it is harder to read as capital efficiency. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports 18.01%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

18.01%

Max: 40.55%
Q3: 19.29%
GD: 18.01%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
Min: -17.12%

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

-7.92%

Max: 40.55%
Q3: 19.29%
Median: 12.12%
Q1: 4.08%
RKLB: -7.92%
Min: -17.12%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their ROE against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Net Margin (TTM)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) reports a negative net margin of -21.51%, usually indicating a net loss over the period. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports 8.24%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

8.24%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
GD: 8.24%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

-21.51%

Max: 27.47%
Q3: 12.10%
Median: 6.30%
Q1: 1.40%
Min: -12.89%
RKLB: -21.51%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their net margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Operating Margin (TTM)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) reports a negative operating margin of -24.57%, usually indicating that operating costs exceeded revenue at the operating-income line. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports 10.49%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

10.49%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
GD: 10.49%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

-24.57%

Max: 36.60%
Q3: 18.33%
Median: 11.12%
Q1: 5.14%
Min: -12.63%
RKLB: -24.57%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their operating margin against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
ROE (TTM)	18.01%	-7.92%
ROA (TTM)	6.23%	-4.62%
Net Margin (TTM)	8.24%	-21.51%
Operating Margin (TTM)	10.49%	-24.57%
Gross Margin (TTM)	15.42%	37.26%

Growth

Revenue Growth

Rocket Lab (RKLB) at 37.96% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while General Dynamics (GD) at 10.13% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for RKLB.

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Only one side can be read here: General Dynamics (GD) reports EPS growth of 13.35%, ranked against its industry; Rocket Lab (RKLB) has no EPS growth figure this period.

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Revenue Growth (YoY)	10.13%	37.96%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	10.07%	41.82%
EPS Growth (YoY)	13.35%	--
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	8.22%	--

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) at 5.48 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while General Dynamics (GD) at 1.43 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.43

Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
GD: 1.43
Min: 0.36

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

5.48

RKLB: 5.48
Max: 5.22
Q3: 2.95
Median: 2.08
Q1: 1.43
Min: 0.36

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their current ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) at 0.04 keeps leverage in the lower industry quartile, while General Dynamics (GD) at 0.33 runs a more typical debt-to-equity mix.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

0.33

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
Median: 0.60
GD: 0.33
Q1: 0.29
Min: 0.00

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

0.04

Max: 2.33
Q3: 1.12
Median: 0.60
Q1: 0.29
RKLB: 0.04
Min: 0.00

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their debt-to-equity ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Current Ratio (MRQ)	1.43	5.48
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	0.33	0.04
Net Debt / EBITDA	0.68	--

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports a yield of 1.76%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.76%

Max: 2.66%
GD: 1.76%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 2.66%
Q3: 1.14%
Median: 0.24%
RKLB: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their dividend yield against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Rocket Lab (RKLB) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile General Dynamics (GD) reports a payout of 36.90%, ranking against industry peers normally.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

36.90%

Max: 67.39%
GD: 36.90%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

0.00%

Max: 67.39%
Q3: 28.02%
Median: 6.86%
RKLB: 0.00%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their payout ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
Dividend Yield (TTM)	1.76%	0.00%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	36.90%	0.00%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

An earnings multiple is available for just one side: General Dynamics (GD) trades at 20.84 times trailing earnings, ranked against its peers, while Rocket Lab (RKLB) has no P/E ratio this period.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

20.84

Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
GD: 20.84
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

Max: 59.38
Q3: 35.92
Median: 25.41
Q1: 19.47
Min: 3.03
RKLB: --

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): RKLB does not report P/E ratio, so it has no value marker; GD is benchmarked against the Capital Goods industry group.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

General Dynamics (GD) at 1.69 prices around its industry’s typical P/S ratio, while Rocket Lab (RKLB) at 44.12 clears its benchmark range — RKLB looks notably rich on sales.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

1.69

Max: 7.54
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
GD: 1.69
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

44.12

RKLB: 44.12
Max: 7.54
Q3: 3.76
Median: 2.15
Q1: 1.03
Min: 0.03

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their P/S ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

General Dynamics (GD) at 3.50 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Rocket Lab (RKLB) at 9.09 carries an above-peer premium to book — RKLB is pricier on assets.

GD

Capital Goods industry group

3.50

Max: 9.66
Q3: 5.00
GD: 3.50
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

RKLB

Capital Goods industry group

9.09

Max: 9.66
RKLB: 9.09
Q3: 5.00
Median: 3.12
Q1: 1.81
Min: -1.08

General Dynamics (GD) vs. Rocket Lab (RKLB): A comparison of their P/B ratio against the Capital Goods industry group benchmark.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for General Dynamics (GD) and Rocket Lab (RKLB)
Metric	GD	RKLB
P/E Ratio (TTM)	20.84	--
P/S Ratio (TTM)	1.69	44.12
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	3.50	9.09
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	4.76%	-0.74%