Rocket Lab and Fluor Corp. Seen as Favorable Industrial Stocks Heading into April

Key Points - Rocket Lab's revenue grew to $602 million in 2025 and the company secured lucrative contracts with the U.S. government. - Fluor Corp.'s backlog is now 81% reimbursable contracts, which derisks the company's revenue significantly. As the market continues to make volatility the norm, investors are searching for quality companies that can withstand the chaos and also happen to be priced attractively at the moment. In the industrial sector, two stocks stand out as compelling buys heading into April. Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) and Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) are two very different companies, but each has exciting growth prospects. Here is a bit more about each of these industrial stocks. Rocket Lab is ready for takeoff Rocket Lab has emerged as a leading competitor in the end-to-end space sector. The company's financials are beginning to reflect that truth as well. The company reported full-year revenue of $602 million, and it completed 21 launches. While those numbers are exciting, the upcoming year looks even better. Wall Street projects Rocket Lab's revenue could reach $880 million in 2026 and could even achieve profitability by early 2027. Rocket Lab's contract backlog reached $1.85 billion, a 73% year-over-year increase. The company also recently signed a $816 million contract with the Space Development Agency to build missile-warning satellites and another $190 million contract for hypersonic tests. Fluor is building the future Fluor doesn't have the razzle-dazzle of Rocket Lab, per se, but it does have a massive backlog and an excellent balance sheet. It is well-positioned to capture much of the enthusiastic spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, defense, and energy. In 2025, Fluor's revenue reached $15.5 billion, and its backlog grew to $25.5 billion. More importantly, 81% of Fluor's backlog contracts are now reimbursable. This is a huge improvement over past contracts because they are structured to shift the risk back to the client rather than onto Fluor. Fluor is also in the middle of a share repurchasing spree, with $1.4 billion in buybacks planned for 2026. The company sold most of its stake in NuScale Power early in the year and will sell the remaining shares imminently. The funds from the NuScale sale are helping to fund the buybacks. Fluor's stock price has risen 20% year to date. Yet, the company's trailing P/E ratio is just over 2 (it's low because earnings have been somewhat uneven over the past four quarters), its forward P/E is around 16, and its PEG ratio is 1.2, indicating the stock is either undervalued or fairly valued. Well-positioned amid uncertainty The recent market turbulence can cloud strong financial fundamentals and positive outlooks. Both Rocket Lab and Fluor are executing well in their respective industries. These solid companies give investors a lot to look forward to, even if the market enters a short-term tailspin.