Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft is preparing for flight.
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic shares fell after the company delayed its next space flight test on Friday, which was scheduled for this weekend.
“We have progressed through our pre-flight preparations and during this process we have decided to give more time for technical checks. We are working to identify the next flight opportunity,” the company said in a statement.
Virgin Galactic shares have risen more than 450% since the company went public in October 2019, with its market valuation now reaching nearly $ 14 billion – despite the company’s lack of significant revenue to date and steady quarterly losses. The speculative investor transaction so far is conditioned by Virgin Galactic making progress in completing its development program and starting commercial flights, with updates and delays that have a pronounced effect on daily stock fluctuations.
On Friday, shares fell up 11% in premarket trading from the previous close of $ 59.41.
The stock rose 13% the day before, after an FAA notification indicated that the space flight test was about to be launched as early as Saturday. The company confirmed on Thursday that it was “making good progress in our flight preparations”, but mentioned at the time that the flight test was still awaiting technical training.
A technical check can be for a variety of reasons, from hardware inspection to software check, so the delay can vary from days to weeks, depending on the severity of the problem.
The upcoming space flight test is a remake of the December test that the company discontinued in the middle of the launch. Virgin Galactic spent two months analyzing the cause of the abortion and performing ground tests, with the test flight set to verify “remedial work that has been completed.”
While only two pilots will be on board, the flight is expected to be the first of three in a series as the company tries to complete the development of its spacecraft system.
Earlier this week, UBS downgraded its stock rating to neutral, citing the stock jump to start the year. UBS said in a note to customers that “we are paying attention to the assessment that seems complete”, even if future test flights create an attractive “catalyst chain”.
Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive statistics and analysis, and live scheduling on weekdays around the world.