Virgin Galactic Q3 2021 Earnings Report Recap

SPCE beat on earnings and on revenue  - Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (SPCE) reported Q3 FY 2021 earnings and revenue that beat analyst expectations. The company's loss per share was was narrower than analysts expected. Virgin Galactic reported revenue that surpassed analysts' estimates by approximately $0.4 million. It was the company's second straight quarter of revenue following four consecutive quarters in which it posted no revenue. Virgin Galactic's shares were up more than 2% in after-market trading. Over the past year, the company's shares have provided a total return of -2.7%, well below the S&P 500's total return of 32.4%.

SPCE Commercial Space Tourism Service

Virgin Galactic confirmed that the scheduled timing for the commencement of its commercial space tourism services would be in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company had been planning to begin offering space flight services in the third quarter of 2022, but it announced in mid-October that it needed additional time after identifying a potential defect in a component from one of its parts suppliers.4 Virgin Galactic is now working to enhance the durability, reliability, and predictability of its space vehicles so that they can be ready to begin commercial services in the fourth quarter of next year.

SPCE Ticket Sales

The company began early ticket sales in August to customers who had reserved rights to be first in line when tickets went on sale. It has sold approximately 700 of the 1,000 tickets it had targeted for this group of customers. The current price of the tickets is $450,000 per seat. Virgin Galactic's next earnings report (for Q4 FY 2021) is estimated to be released on March 1, 2022.