What Boosted Virgin Galactic Stock Yesterday?

Virgin Galactic, founded by Richard Branson in 2004, is an aerospace company that offers human spaceflight for researchers and private individuals. Virgin Galactic’s competitors are privately held SpaceX and Blue Origin. SpaceX was founded and is led by Tesla’s Elon Musk, while Blue Origin was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Virgin Galactic stock surged 25 percent yesterday after Susquehanna and Bank of America started covering the stock. Bank of America analyst Ronald Epstein initiated coverage on Virgin Galactic stock with a “buy” rating and target price of $35. Epstein cited the company’s vertical integration capabilities, unparalleled growth potential, and leading market position. The analyst admitted that the business is not without risk. In a research note, Epstein writes that “a fatal accident, though unlikely, could compromise the business model.”

Susquehanna analyst Charles Minervino initiated coverage on Virgin Galactic stock with a “buy” rating and target price of $20. Minervino views Virgin Galactic as “an innovator of space technology with a truly unique offering.” The analyst believes “the company will be tapping into significant latent demand for space tourism, although he also acknowledges it will be serving what is an untested market,” according to The Fly. Also, Minervino doesn’t expect Virgin Galactic to report positive EBITDA or free cash flow until 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Virgin Galactic stock trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "SPCE." The stock was up about 3.6 percent at $21.25 in premarket trading today as of this article's writing. Virgin Galactic stock rose 24.8 percent yesterday and closed at $20.51 with a market capitalization of $4.3 billion. The stock has risen by 24.5 percent in the last five days and 91.9 percent in the last year.

Virgin Galactic stock is trading 51.7 percent below its 52-week high of $42.49 and 197.2 percent above its 52-week low of $6.90. Year-to-date, the stock had risen by 77.6 percent as of Sept. 28.

Currently, analysts' stock price forecast for Virgin Galactic is $23.83, which suggests a 16.2 percent upside. The highest target price of $29 implies a 41.4 percent upside, while the lowest target price of $20 suggests a 2.5 percent downside. All eight Wall Street analysts tracking Virgin Galactic suggest buying the stock.