Virgin Galactic, which has seen its stock flying high over the past few weeks, may find shares coming back to Earth as its fourth-quarter 2019 earnings released Tuesday show that the Richard Branson-founded space tourism company missed analyst expectations for revenue. Its stock has nearly tripled in value since the company went public in October, closing at $34.04 Tuesday, but investors are currently selling in after hours trading, pushing the stock price down about 5.6% at time of publication.
Virgin Galactic hasn’t begun its commercial flights yet, but it earns revenue by transporting scientific payloads on its test flights and by providing engineering services to other firms. In a press release and earnings call, the company downplayed the revenue result, highlighting its progress towards its first passenger spaceflights.
Founded over a decade ago, Virgin Galactic is on the cusp of finally taking passengers. Its spacecraft has been to space several times since December 2018, and it's been moved from its testing grounds in Mojave to the New Mexico spaceport. The company has over 600 reservations for space tourist flights , but stopped taking new reservations in December 2018. Since then, it has collected “registrations of interest” for people who want to buy tickets once sales resume.
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