Virgin Galactic shares lose ground in volatile trading after space tourism stock tops $40

FAN Editor

Virgin Galactic shares swung back-and-forth in heavy trading Thursday, with the stock giving dropping midday after climbing earlier.

Shares had jumped more than 13% and soared past $40 to a new high, heading for its ninth consecutive day of gains. But the stock later reversed and fell, dropping as much as 17% to about under $32.

The space tourism’s stock has climbed more than 350% in the past three months, with a large portion of the gains coming in the past two weeks. Virgin Galactic has become Wall Street’s favorite speculative play. In the first hour of trading on Thursday, more than 40 million Virgin Galactic shares traded hands, several times its daily average volume.

There was no public catalyst from the company driving the stock’s move. Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides spoke Thursday morning at an investor conference hosted by Barclays in Miami — but his presentation is not expected to be released, the bank told CNBC.

Virgin Galactic has little in the way of revenue thus far. When it reported third-quarter results in November, the company booked just $800,000 of revenue for the quarter and a net loss of $138.1 million for the first nine months of 2019.

Morgan Stanley’s warning

Virgin Galactic’s rally has taken even the most bullish Wall Street analysts by surprise, as Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the stock “deserves a bit of a breather here.” He noted that it is difficult to identify a major inflection that justifies the stock’s move to its current levels.

“A modest correction is overdue, and frankly, healthy, in our opinion,” Jonas said.

Morgan Stanley has an overweight rating and a $22 price target on the stock.

Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Georgia’s released ex-premier vows to fight against government

February 20, 2020 TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia’s former prime minister Vano Merabishvili said on Thursday after release from prison that he would return to active politics and fight against the current government. Merabishvili, who was arrested in 2013, served six years and nine months in prison after being convicted of […]