Investors are hot on Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) ahead of the final flight of its Unity spacecraft coming on June 8. Indeed, SPCE stock is up a surprise 20% today with just weeks until the milestone mission.
The space tourism company is eyeing June 8 as its potential launch window for its Galactic 07 mission. This marks the final launch of the company’s Unity spacecraft before ceasing commercial operation to work on and construct a new Delta-class spacecraft.
As it stands, the current Unity spacecraft is capable of making one spaceflight per month while housing four passengers. The new Delta craft will have six passenger seats, however, and should be able to complete as many as eight spaceflights in a month. Despite the added capacity, Delta tickets will be more expensive than current Unity tickets, at $600,000 a seat versus $450,000.
The Galactic 07 mission represents the company’s seventh commercial and research space launch, Unity’s second spaceflight in 2024 and its 12th trip ever.
In the company’s recent earnings report, Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier confirmed expectations that the firm will be ready for commercial service beginning in 2026.
SPCE Stock Enjoys Puzzling Surge Ahead of Galactic 07 Spaceflight
While the company’s milestone mission is certainly a point of interest for investors, it’s unclear if that’s truly the reason behind today’s surge.
Indeed, there was little pertinent news related to the space launch today, nor was there a preexisting rally boosting the stock prior to today. In fact, SPCE stock fell over 5% last Friday and the stock is down about 55% year-to-date (YTD).
Worth noting, SPCE has very high short interest, representing 26% of its public float of shares. Additionally, its recent trading volume is currently around 45 million shares, almost triple its 65-day average volume of 17.17 million shares.
This suggests there may be some stock manipulation at play here — potentially even a short-squeeze campaign in the making.
On the date of publication, Shrey Dua 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.
