Stocks of Virgin Galactic Continue To Rally After First Commercial Flight Plans Are Revealed

June 20, 2023

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Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. experienced a 3% increase in premarket trading on Tuesday, sustaining its ongoing rally as the company gears up for its inaugural commercial flight.

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During Friday's trading session, shares of the spaceflight company soared by 16.5%, buoyed by Virgin Galactic's plan to conduct its first commercial flight later this month. Trading volume for Virgin Galactic on Friday was three times higher than the average volume over the previous 30 days, according to Trade Algo.

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The maiden commercial flight, named Galactic 01, will be a paid scientific-research mission in partnership with the Italian air force. TD Cowen analyst Oliver Chen described this upcoming flight as an "out of this world innovation" in a note issued last month.

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Virgin Galactic has scheduled the flight window for Galactic 01 from June 27 to June 30. Following this, a second commercial flight, Galactic 02, is planned for early August. The company anticipates conducting monthly commercial spaceflights subsequent to the Galactic 02 mission.

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Last month, Virgin Galactic achieved a significant milestone with the fully crewed return to space of its VSS Unity spacecraft. This mission, named Unity 25, involved two pilots and four Virgin Galactic mission specialists. It marked the company's first fully crewed spaceflight since July 2021 when founder Richard Branson and three company employees were aboard VSS Unity's journey to space.

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Despite reporting a first-quarter loss that exceeded expectations and revenue below analysts' estimates last month, Virgin Galactic's stock has shown resilience. The company had faced challenges due to the difficulties encountered by Branson's satellite-launch firm, Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc., which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year and is now in the process of winding down operations and selling its assets.

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Over the past three months, shares of Virgin Galactic have recorded a 15.4% increase.

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