Today, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) did exactly what it set out to do and got tourists into space. Packed with historical firsts, the launches from Spaceport America showed that Virgin Galactic could do the job. However, investors weren’t pleased overall, and shares slipped nearly 3% in Thursday afternoon’s trading.
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With the launch of Galactic 02, the first female astronauts from the Caribbean have now gone into space. So too, has the first Olympian, the second person with Parkinson’s Disease, the first mother-daughter pair (who won their tickets in a fundraising lottery), the third oldest person, and the youngest person, all thanks to this mission. This is just the first of several planned trips, especially since the waiting list to get on a Virgin Galactic flight is now 800 people strong. The current cost of such a trip is $450,000, though several of the people on the waiting list paid about half that for their flight.
Virgin Galactic has long struggled with cost overruns and a long time frame to actually get paying customers into space. Now, however, the promises are starting to be delivered, and that will likely change the game for Virgin Galactic. Whether it comes in time to keep the company viable or it’s a case of too-little-too-late is unclear as of yet. But the wheels are rolling, the spaceships are flying, and the cash should start rolling in.
However, analysts don’t think much of Virgin Galactic’s chances yet. With five Hold ratings and three Sell, analyst consensus calls Virgin Galactic stock a Moderate Sell. However, with an average price target of $3.63 per share, Virgin Galactic stock comes with a 10.84% upside potential.
