Virgin Orbit’s Turbulence Isn’t Over. The Stock Plunges Again.
By
Al RootFollowing
Updated March 28, 2023 9:05 am ET / Original March 28, 2023 8:27 am ET
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Shares of space launch start-up Virgin Orbit Holdings VORB –20.47% were down in early trading Tuesday after a report that the company will suspend operations again after talks for fresh investment broke down over the weekend.
Virgin Orbit (ticker: VORB) shares were down about 11%, at 48 cents each, in premarket trading Tuesday. S&P 500SPX –0.19% futures were up 0.1% and Nasdaq CompositeCOMP –0.57% futures were flat.
CNBC reported Monday afternoon that operations would be paused after talks with potential investor Matthew Brown failed to end in a capital injection. Virgin Orbit didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday morning.
Investment is needed. The company ended the third quarter with about $75 million of cash on its balance sheet. Fourth-quarter numbers aren’t available. Virgin has been using roughly $50 million a quarter.
The Tuesday drop continues a pattern of wild trading in Virgin Orbit shares. Coming into Tuesday, shares had dropped eight of the past 10 days. The magnitude of the average move, up or down, has been about 21%.
Shares dropped about 30% after the company said in mid March that it was temporarily halting operations. They jumped 50% on Friday on news that a partial operational resumption was planned. Shares fell 33% Monday after there was no news of fresh investment, heading south again early on Tuesday.
Virgin Orbit’s market capitalization was about $180 million, based on Monday’s closing price of 54 cents a share. The company was worth roughly $1.4 billion at its 52-week high of $7.59 a share reached in April 2022.
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