Virgin Galactic’s financial results – analysts predict losses
Already today, Virgin Galactic (SPCE) should report another quarterly loss as the company continues to postpone the start of commercial service, analysts say. As a result, SPCE shares showed a drop on Thursday and at the beginning of Friday’s trading session.
Forecasts: FactSet analysts expect to see a loss of $0.28 per share against a $0.34 in the previous year on revenue of $1.4 million. Actual results: we will find out after the close of trading on Monday.
Stock dynamics: on Friday, the value of securities decreased by 0.5% to $19.53. SPCE shares are well below the critical 50-day and 200-day lines. The start of commercial flights On October 14, Richard Branson’s space company announced that it would postpone the start of commercial aviation until the fourth quarter of 2022.
The delay is due to the start of a lengthy modernization and repair program. Previously, the company planned to launch commercial flights at the end of the third quarter, postponing the launch from the beginning of 2021.
Virgin Galactic now expects the Unity 23 test flight, initially scheduled for the end of October, to take place after completing the modernization program next year. This project is to be implemented jointly with the Italian Air Force.
Representatives of the company said that the delay had nothing to do with the supplier’s warning about a possible “manufacturing defect” in one of the flight control system components.
While Virgin focused on the modernization program, its competitor Blue Origin launched its second commercial flight with the star of “Star Trek” William Shatner on board. Burning the SPCE cache is a concern According to Andrew Chanin, CEO of ProcureAM, which launched the Procure Space ETF (UFO), the postponement of the start of commercial flights focuses on the problem of burning the Virgin Galactic cache.
In the summer, they received money through dilution, he said. – But how quickly will the company spend this money? And will then them just to prepare spaceships for flights? Or do they diversify their business so that it is not considered one-sided?”
Virgin Galactic started as a space tourism company. Still, analysts also note its potential in supersonic travel – the firm will be able to use a spaceplane to deliver passengers across continents in a small amount of time. However, in recent quarters, the company’s representatives have not given any comments on the development of this business line.
