What happened
Shares of space tourism pioneer Virgin Galactic (SPCE -1.09%) stock closed 12.3% higher on Friday. In an announcement made Thursday after the close of trading, Virgin Galactic revealed that its president of Aerospace Systems, Swami Iyer, has left the company for undisclosed reasons. Iyer "will continue to serve as an advisor to" Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier through March 3.
So what
Although Iyer is leaving, Virgin Galactic noted that under its "updated leadership structure," Mike Moses remains president of Spaceline Missions and Safety, Mike Moore remains executive vice president in charge of Spaceline Technical Operations, and Steve Justice remains senior vice president for Spaceline Programs and Engineering.
Virgin Galactic also confirmed that upgrades of its mothership, VMS Eve, have been completed and that test flights are about to begin. The company reiterated its plans to begin commercial operations as well (i.e., flying space tourists to the edge of space). If and when this happens, Virgin Galactic should begin recording revenue at the rate of $1.5 million or more per spaceflight -- versus $1.6 million recorded for all of its last 12 months.
Now what
Still, the only real news today is that Iyer is leaving the company. The other three executives mentioned are not changing job titles or responsibilities. Further, Eve's flight testing was announced in November -- as was Virgin Galactic's plan to begin commercial operations in 2023's second quarter.
Granted, Virgin Galactic did not use today's press release as an opportunity to announce another delay of its start date for space tourism operations, but that's more of a no news is good news situation. In the absence of any good news that actually is news today, the reason Virgin Galactic stock keeps climbing -- and so sharply -- is a mystery.
