The stock market moved higher once again on Thursday, as investors reacted positively to news of a continuing slowdown in the rate of inflation. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +1.52%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +1.79%) each saw similar-sized gains, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC +1.20%) lagged behind somewhat but still managed to move higher.
|
Index |
Daily Percentage Change |
Daily Point Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Dow |
+0.64% |
+217 |
|
S&P 500 |
+0.34% |
+14 |
|
Nasdaq |
+0.64% |
+69 |
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
A couple of big movers were in the news on Thursday. Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE 4.08%) has seen a lot of turbulence over the past year, but the company still hopes to make good on all of its potential. Meanwhile, Logitech International (LOGI +2.07%) revealed financial results that showed how it is still dealing with the impact of changing trends since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virgin Galactic is still space-bound
Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings rose 8% in the regular trading session and then added another 18% in after-hours trading Thursday. The space tourism specialist has had to go through significant challenges lately, but the company reassured its investors with its latest plans for 2023.
Late Thursday afternoon, Virgin Galactic said that it would begin to make a transition in its leadership structure as a prelude to moving forward with its planned commercial space travel operations. Accordingly the company's current President of Aerospace Systems, Swami Iyer, is departing his position effective immediately. Iyer will stay on as an advisor to CEO Michael Colglazier until early March to aid with the transition.
NYSE: SPCE
Key Data Points
Virgin Galactic explained that Iyer has successfully prepared the company's spacecraft for commercial flight. With that done, the next step is to make regular trips to space and expand its fleet to serve a wider array of customers. Supporting those efforts, a team of three experts with experience at NASA, Delta Air Lines, and Lockheed Martin will work to ensure safe space-line operations at an increasing pace.
Investors were pleased to hear that Virgin Galactic still expects to begin its commercial service in the second quarter of 2023. The gains for the stock only claw back a portion of its losses over the past six months, but many shareholders expect further boosts to the stock price if Virgin Galactic's flights go well in the coming year.
Logitech deals with disappointment
Elsewhere, shares of Logitech International plunged 17%. The maker of computer peripherals and other related items released preliminary results for the fiscal third quarter that ended Dec. 31, and investors were happy with the size of the declines that the business suffered.
Logitech's quarterly results weren't pretty. Net revenue dropped 22% to 23% year over year to between $1.26 billion and $1.27 billion. The company didn't release earnings figures directly, but it projected that its adjusted operating income dropped 33% to 34% from year-ago levels to around the $200 million mark.
NASDAQ: LOGI
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Logitech pointed to ongoing macroeconomic weakness, with an emphasis on sluggish sales to its enterprise clients during the period. In addition, because of the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in China, Logitech expressed some concerns about its supply chain. As a result, the company cut its full-year outlook for fiscal 2023, now projecting sales to fall 13% to 15% rather than the previous 4% to 8% drop the company had anticipated.
Logitech undoubtedly benefited from the acceleration in remote work early in the pandemic, as people around the world rushed to buy computer and videoconferencing equipment. As those trends have slowed, though, Logitech has seen the impact on its financials. As long as sales of computers remain sluggish, Logitech could have trouble rebounding.
