Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE)

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 34,880 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 168% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,004 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPCE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $2.30 price objective on Virgin Galactic and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Virgin Galactic in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Susquehanna set a $3.50 target price on Virgin Galactic in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.20.

Virgin Galactic Stock Up 13.8%

SPCE traded up $0.30 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.47. 16,723,770 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,313,873. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.87. Virgin Galactic has a fifty-two week low of $2.13 and a fifty-two week high of $6.64. The stock has a market cap of $180.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 2.22.

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $0.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.41 million. Virgin Galactic had a negative net margin of 17,615.71% and a negative return on equity of 108.00%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.53) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Virgin Galactic will post -16.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Virgin Galactic

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Virgin Galactic by 284.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 67,303 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Virgin Galactic by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 40,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,282 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Virgin Galactic by 77.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 16,369 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Virgin Galactic by 44.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 19,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 6,143 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Virgin Galactic by 220.9% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 25,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.62% of the company’s stock.

Virgin Galactic News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Virgin Galactic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management reiterated targets for a commercial service launch in Q4 2026 and said flight cadence could ramp to 10+ commercial flights per month by mid‑2027 — a concrete timeline that supports future revenue and capacity planning. Virgin Galactic targets commercial service launch in Q4 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Virgin Galactic reopened spaceflight ticket sales at $750,000 per seat, signaling confidence in demand and immediate monetization opportunities as commercial flights approach. This repricing and restart can help convert backlog into near‑term cash flow if operations remain on schedule. Virgin Galactic Resumes Space Tourism Sales at $750,000 a Ticket
• Positive Sentiment: The company reported an EPS beat for Q4 2025 (reported -$0.98 vs. street -$1.12), showing improvement versus the prior year and giving investors a data point that operations are stabilizing. Virgin Galactic Earnings Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Company updates: assembly of the first SpaceShip is nearly complete and ground testing is slated to begin in April — tangible technical progress that reduces execution risk versus earlier stages. Business Wire: 2025 Results & Business Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Hiring/organizational move: appointment of a first Chief Growth Officer to coordinate revenue, partnerships and new spaceports — a structural positive but one that matters only if execution follows. A Look At Virgin Galactic Valuation After Appointing Its First Chief Growth Officer
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader sector strength: space/launch peers rallying helped lift SPCE as part of a thematic trade — supportive but not specific to Virgin’s fundamentals. Rocket Lab Gains 6%, Virgin Galactic Surges 19%
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was light for the quarter ($0.31M vs. ~$0.41M estimate) and the company remains unprofitable with large negative margins and ROE — financial reality that keeps valuation hinged on future operational delivery. MarketBeat: Q4 Earnings Snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: Execution risk and capital needs remain material: timeline slips, additional testing or setbacks could push cash burn higher and delay revenue — the main downside risk investors are pricing. Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)

Virgin Galactic Company Profile

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc (NYSE: SPCE) is a commercial spaceflight company developing and operating spacecraft for private individuals and research customers. The firm’s primary business is suborbital human spaceflight, offering passengers a brief trip to the edge of space aboard its reusable spaceplane. In parallel, the company is building out infrastructure and support services for suborbital payload deployments and microgravity research missions.

The core flight system consists of a carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo, which lifts the spaceplane SpaceShipTwo to high altitude before release.