Space tourism provider Virgin Galactic officially began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday. Following an initial surge, the stock price dipped and is, as of writing down more than 6%.
Virgin Galactic’s listing on the NYSE was a product of a merger between the space tourism provider and the investment firm, Social Capital Hedosophia. The agreement saw a 51% majority remain with founder Sir Richard Branson while Social Capital Hedosophia took a 49% stake in the company.
Late last week, Virgin Galactic shareholders officially approved the merger clearing the way for the company to go public on Monday. It was officially listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol SPCE with the opening bell marking its first day of trading. The listing was an all too familiar over-the-top Richard Branson affair with the company’s billionaire owner attending in a Virgin Galactic flight suite.
The stock opened at $12.34 and with the wind of excitement behind it quickly rose to $12.90. However, that would be its peak as it slumped ending the day at $11.75. The losses continued into Tuesday with the stock dipping as low as $10.50 before rallying and holding steady around the $11 mark.
