Aerospace company Virgin Galactic Holdings’ (NYSE: SPCE) loss widened to $73 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from $45.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Revenue stood at $529,000 for the recently ended quarter. Shares of Virgin Galactic, which started trading on NYSE from the end of October 2019, have jumped more than 200% in this year so far. Virgin Galactic will be conducting its first-ever earnings conference call today.
One Small Step
For reopening the spaceflight sales, the company introduced “One Small Step” initiative today. As per this plan, the aspirant future flyers have to register online by paying $1,000 and they will get the preference when the next set of seats are released fore reservations.
Also read: Boeing (BA) unexpectedly slips to loss in Q4
The company had already registered 600 people from 60 countries. Registrations of interest in flight reservations as of February 23, 2020 was 7,957, up 124% from 3,557 as of September 30, 2019.
Commercial Launch
“The progress we made in 2019, combined with the high level of interest from potential customers, underpin the steps we are taking toward reopening ticket sales. We are continuing to build on our strong momentum as we enter the most exciting chapter of our story to date and prepare for commercial launch,” said CEO George Whitesides.
Recent Highlights
In early October, Boeing (NYSE: BA) entered into a strategical partnership with VG by investing $20 million in the company. Also, during the three months ended December 31, 2019, Virgin Galactic entered into a new contract with Italian Air Force and by joining hands with Under Armour (NYSE: UA), VG unveiled Future Astronaut spacesuits.
Stock Movement
Due to the speculative buying of the investors and getting attention from the hedge funds, SPCE stock has been moving up in the past weeks with huge trading volumes. Shares of VG, which ended down 0.73% at $34.04 today, were down about 1% immediately after the earnings announcement.