What happened
Hardly a day goes by without shares of space tourism company Virgin Galactic (SPCE 8.65%) either rising or falling more than 5% -- and today was no different. After yesterday's "up" day, Virgin Galactic is going down again, losing more than 5% initially and still down 3.4% here in the market's final half hour.
So what did Virgin Galactic do to deserve this?
Image source: Virgin Galactic.
So what
Do you recall how yesterday I said that Virgin Galactic hasn't said anything of real significance since two weeks ago, when it announced a change-up in its CEO suite? Remember how I said we probably wouldn't get any more news out of the company until next week, when Virgin Galactic is due to report second-quarter earnings?
Turns out I was wrong about that.
A little after noon Tuesday, Virgin Galactic issued a series of tweets showing photos of the interior layout of its Virgin Space Ship "Unity" -- the one that Virgin hopes will soon begin flying paying passengers to the edge of space and back. The photos depict a spaceship cabin configurable to carry either "astronauts" (i.e. space tourists) or cargo, and outfitted with "12 large windows" to deliver "awe-inspiring views, from the infinity of outer space to the beauty of our home planet."
Now what
I have to admit: It's a beautiful space boat. The photos are attractive. (I'll leave it to consumers to decide whether they're $250,000-a-ticket attractive). But then again, given the time Virgin has taken to get this vessel ready for service, I doubt anyone is surprised to learn that company founder Richard Branson insisted that his multimillionaire customers be given a luxurious ride.
In the absence of any new information about when those rides will commence, though, today's "news" release feels kind of underwhelming. Judging from the stock price action, other investors seem to agree.
