Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. shares rose more than 3% late Tuesday after the space-tourism company reported a narrower quarterly loss and said that demand for its “one of a kind” space flights remains strong.
Virgin Galactic
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said it lost $81 million, or 31 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $104 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
Revenue hit $141,000, from no revenue a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to report a loss of 35 cents a share on sales of $300,000.
“We remain on track and on schedule to complete our enhancement program and launch commercial service later this year,” Chief Executive Michael Colglazier said in a statement.
“Demand for our one-of-a-kind experience remains strong, and we are currently building our operations to accommodate our growing customer base,” he said.
Virgin Galactic shares soared last week after the company said it was opening up ticket sales for its space flights to the general public. Virgin said it plans to have its first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year.
Flights reservations cost $450,000, with an initial deposit of $150,000 and a final payment before the flight. Virgin landed on that price in August, and ticket reservations were limited to what the company called “a significant list of early hand-raisers.”
Shares of Virgin Galactic have lost about 84% in the past 12 months, contrasting with gains of around 11% for the S&P 500 index
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