Virgin Galactic Q4 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Miss, EPS Beat, Q1 Guidance, Spaceship Update And More

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) reported fourth-quarter financial results after market close Tuesday.

Here are the key highlights.

What Happened: Earnings per share came in at a loss of 26 cents, beating the estimate of a loss of 30 cents. The revenue total missed a Street consensus estimate of $2.98 million, coming in at $2.81 million, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company reported a net loss of $104 million in the fourth-quarter, which was an improvement on a net loss of $151 million in the prior year's fourth quarter.

"2023 was incredible for Virgin Galactic as years of R&D and flight test culminated in launching our commercial Spaceline and successfully flying back-to-back monthly spaceflights, each delivering an exceptional experience for our customers," Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said.

Full fiscal year revenue was $7 million in 2023, compared to $2 million in 2022. The revenue increase was driven by commercial spaceflights and memberships fees from future astronauts, according to the company.

The company ended the fourth-quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $982 million.

Related Link: Virgin Galactic Q4 Earnings Preview: Analyst Estimates, Flight Frequency Concerns — Could Recent Moon Landing Provide Boost For Shares?

What's Next: Virgin Galactic expects first quarter revenue to be around $2 million. The company sees free cash flow for the first quarter coming in a range of a loss of $125 million to a loss of $135 million.

The company said its Galactic 07 spaceflight is planned for the second quarter of 2023. The company’s spaceship factory in Arizona is on track to open in mid-2024.

Virgin Galactic also said production for its Delta Class spaceships remains on track for "revenue service" in 2026.

"In 2024, we are focused on completing the build-out of our spaceship factory, delivering the first parts ahead of assembling the initial Delta ships, and positioning the company for long-term growth and profitability," Colglazier said.

SPCE Price Action: Virgin Galactic shares are down 2% to $1.88 in after-hours trading Tuesday, versus a 52-week trading range of $1.38 to $6.16.

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Photo courtesy of Virgin Galactic.