Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) is trending on social media today as SPCE stock climbs ahead of the company’s first commercial spaceflight. Virgin Galactic’s upcoming mission is due to occur later this month.
Yesterday, shares of SPCE jumped 27% as investors learned more about the company’s upcoming flight. But that’s not the only thing going on with this stock; noteworthy short-squeeze activity may also be mounting with Virgin Galactic.
Here’s what investors should know about Virgin Galactic moving forward.
SPCE Stock: Virgin Galactic Gears Up for Commercial Spaceflights
Due to launch between June 27 and June 30, Galactic 01 “will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy to conduct microgravity research.” The crew will utilize Virgin’s suborbital space lab during the journey and the flight will carry “scientific payloads.”
Reacting to the announcement of the flight back in May, TD Cowen analyst Oliver Chen called the operation an “out of this world innovation.”
Virgin is slated to launch another commercial flight, Galactic 02, toward the beginning of August. Additional space missions are due to follow each month thereafter.
Short-Squeeze Activity in SPCE Is Rising
In recent days, the amount that short sellers pay to borrow SPCE stock has surged. Reportedly, the figure has climbed from $1.68 per share on June 19 to $4.68 as of this writing, per Fintel.
But that’s not all. In addition, the percentage of SPCE shares traded by short sellers outside of the major exchanges climbed to 56.8% on June 20. That’s up from 43.1% on June 14 and 49.9% on June 13.
All told, Fintel gives Virgin Galactic a “Short Squeeze Score” of 72.57 out of 100. That ranks SPCE stock at 832 out of the 3,737 names for which the platform provides the metric.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
