Virgin Galactic shares fall after another quarterly loss, no date set for next spaceflight test

Virgin Galactic delivered first quarter outcomes after the market closed on Monday, saying that it has but to set a goal date for its next spaceflight test, which the corporate beforehand deliberate for this month.

“Timing of next flight test is at present being evaluated,” the corporate stated in a press launch.

The area tourism firm reported an adjusted EBITDA lack of $55.9 million, down barely from a lack of $59.5 million within the earlier quarter and beneath the adjusted EBITDA lack of $63.6 million anticipated by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

The firm booked zero {dollars} of income within the quarter, because it did within the prior quarter. Virgin Galactic had about $617 million in money available on the finish of the primary quarter, down from about $666 million within the fourth quarter.

Shares of Virgin Galactic fell greater than 3% in after hours buying and selling, having closed down 8% at $17.95 a share on Monday.

The inventory has fallen 24% yr to date – having dropped greater than 70% from highs above $60 a share hit in February.

Virgin Galactic’s inventory losses accelerated over the previous two months after delays to its test program, in addition to share sales by chairman Chamath Palihapitiya, founder Richard Branson, and Cathie Wood’s new space ETF. The inventory additionally fell after Jeff Bezos’ enterprise Blue Origin introduced plans to launch the first crewed flight of its space tourism rocket on July 20, a transfer which UBS warned likely removes Virgin Galactic’s first-mover benefit.

The firm is working to finish growth of its SpaceShipTwo system, with 4 test flights remaining earlier than Virgin Galactic begins industrial service in 2022.

Virgin Galactic tried the primary of these 4 spaceflight checks in December, however the mission was minimize quick by an engine anomaly. The firm scheduled a repeat of the flight try for February, however then delayed to May to provide extra time to deal with an electromagnetic interference situation with the spacecraft’s flight pc. Virgin Galactic stated in its first quarter report that it accomplished corrective work on the difficulty, saying VSS Unity “is able to begin pre-flight procedures for flight.”

The fourth spaceflight test, anticipated later this yr, will carry members of the Italian Air Force for skilled astronaut coaching. It will likely be Virgin Galactic’s first “full income flight,” with the corporate disclosing it can generate $2 million – or the equal of $500,000 per seat.

In the meantime, Virgin Galactic in March unveiled the next spacecraft addition to its fleet, VSS Imagine, which is the primary of its next-generation SpaceShip III class.