NEW YORK, June 1, 2026, 10:03 ET
Virgin Galactic shares jumped almost 28% Monday during early New York hours, adding to Friday’s steep rally. A new ownership filing and new focus on the Delta-class spaceship program brought traders back. Shares last traded at $7.91 after hitting $8.23, with volume over 60 million shares.
Virgin Galactic is not making much money right now and is working to get commercial spaceflights going again. Traders are focused on two things: a stake from RichRich Capital and management’s plan to start flight tests in the third quarter and launch spaceflights in the fourth quarter.
RichRich Capital LLC disclosed it owned 4.87 million Virgin Galactic shares in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated May 29. That total includes 4.57 million shares tied to call options, which let the holder buy the stock at a certain price. The firm’s sole member, Rich Huang, was listed in the filing as having beneficial ownership of 5.58 million shares, or 5.26% of the class. The filing also noted the securities were not acquired to seek control of the company.
The stock jumped 36.42% Friday to finish at $6.18, hitting a 52-week high and a sixth straight increase, MarketWatch reported. That beat out gains in bigger aerospace players like Boeing, RTX, and Lockheed Martin. Volume was 175.9 million shares, way above the 50-day average of 11.3 million.
Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in May that the first of the company’s new SpaceShips has left the assembly hangar and moved into the test-and-launch hangar, with ground testing started. “We remain on track to commence flight testing in Q3 and spaceflight in Q4,” Colglazier said. Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is still burning through cash. The company posted first-quarter revenue of $0.2 million with a net loss of $65 million. Free cash flow came in at negative $93 million. Free cash flow measures cash left after operating costs and capital expenditure. At the end of March, the company held $251 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. It brought in another $52 million in gross proceeds with an at-the-market share sale in April, selling new stock directly into the market.
Virgin Galactic said last week VSS Unity, its older prototype, is flying glide missions again over Spaceport America in New Mexico. The flights are aimed at getting pilots, ground staff, and mission control ready ahead of the company’s new spaceship program. Spaceline President Mike Moses called Unity “an outstanding real-world proxy” for the upcoming vehicle. virgingalactic.com
The space trade has gotten a boost from SpaceX. Reuters said in May that Elon Musk’s company was targeting a Nasdaq listing as soon as June 12. The possible IPO has drawn fresh focus on public space stocks even though SpaceX runs a much bigger launch, satellite and services business than Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic’s rally comes with risks. The company has flagged that delays in testing or upcoming flights, development issues, capital requirements and how much financing it can get could mean actual results won’t match plans. Virgin Galactic also expects another quarter of negative free cash flow, between $87 million and $92 million for the second quarter.
Virgin Galactic said it got preliminary court approval for a proposed settlement in a shareholder derivative case, with insurers paying $2.75 million to the company. Virgin Galactic would keep half if the deal is finalized. Defendants have denied wrongdoing.
Boeing shares dropped 2.6%, RTX lost 1.9% and Lockheed Martin was down 1.0% in early trading. So far, the stock is trading more like a milestone play than a regular aerospace bet. Virgin Galactic’s market cap was roughly $629 million.
