Here's how much Virgin Galactic earned from space tourists last quarter

By Claudia Assis

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. said late Tuesday it racked up $2 million in revenue in the first quarter, mostly from commercial spaceflight and membership fees from future space tourists.

Virgin Galactic (SPCE) reported its quarterly earnings after the bell Tuesday, and the stock fell more than 3% after the results. That's because the company guided for a lower-than-expected revenue for the current quarter.

The space-tourism company posted a loss of $102 million, or 25 cents a share, which was narrower than the first-quarter 2023 loss of $159 million, or 57 cents a share.

That narrowing was mostly thanks to lower operating expenses and an increase in interest income, the company said.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 29 cents a share for the quarter. Virgin Galactic's revenue number met FactSet consensus.

Virgin Galactic guided for second-quarter revenue of about $3.5 million, whereas the FactSet consensus calls for $3.8 million.

Shares of Virgin Galactic have lost 59% so far this year, contrasting with gains of around 9% for the S&P 500 index SPX.

-Claudia Assis

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05-07-24 1704ET

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