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George Whitesides, left, will become Virgin Galactic’s chief space officer. Michael Colglazier takes over as CEO.
Courtesy of Virgin Galactic.
Shares of Virgin Galactic, a pioneer of space tourism, shot up after the company named a new CEO. He comes from Disney and the former CEO stays. The move signals a shift in focus at the start of the space, from the technical challenges of reaching the space to the challenges of managing a commercial business.
Shares of Virgin Galactic (ticker: SPCE) rose 12.3% on Thursday morning in the news. Disney executive (DIS) Michael Colglazier is the person to replace George Whitesides, the first CEO of Galactic. Whitesides is taking on a new role as space director.
Whitesides is a former chief of staff for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and a member of the United Kingdom’s Royal Aeronautical Society and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is also a certified parabolic flight pilot and trainer. Whitesides, in short, was the person who prepared the company for space flight.
Colglazier, on the other hand, will have to generate sales and profits in the coming years as the company launches, literally and figuratively, commercial space tourism. At Walt Disney, Colglazier worked in the theme park division, including developing the 14-acre Star Wars: Galaxy Edge themed land. So there is a kind of spatial connection.
“While we believe the timing of the transition is sensible, what is unclear to us at the moment is that Mr. Colglazier will fit the paper,” wrote Vertical Research Partners analyst Darryl Genovesi. He is not critical of Colglazier, and Galactic is unique. Instead of sending people into space virtually, in a Millennium Falcon, people will enter zero-gravity territory on a galactic space glider.
“We are inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, particularly given the continued involvement of Mr. Whitesides,” Genovesi said.
Genovesi qualifies as a galactic bull, qualifying Buy stocks with a target price of $ 29. He is not alone. Galactic has four analysts who cover the shares, according to Bloomberg. Three qualify it as the equivalent of Buy. That’s higher than the 55% average buy rating ratio for stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but four isn’t much. About 30 analysts cover one Dow share, on average.
The average target analyst price for Virgin Galactic is $ 24.50, higher than where the stocks trade.
Galactic stocks are up 77% so far this year, beating comparable returns on the S&P 500 and Dow. Investors are becoming more interested in space lately after the successful launch of American astronauts to the International Space Station by SpaceX.
Galactic also has an agreement with NASA to train private astronauts.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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