SPCE Stock Caps Best Month Ever: Retail Bulls Swarm Richard Branson’s Space Firm As New Investor Emerges Ahead Of SpaceX IPO

• A new SEC filing revealed investor Rich Huang and RichRich Capital built a 5.26% stake in Virgin Galactic.

• Virgin Galactic also secured preliminary approval for a shareholder litigation settlement that could bring in $2.75 million from insurers, with the company retaining half.

• Virgin Galactic remains on track for Delta spacecraft glide tests in Q3, rocket-powered flights in Q4, and commercial service later this year.

Shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (SPCE) logged their strongest month ever as investors cheered a newly disclosed 5% stake by an options-heavy investor, while space stocks continued to benefit from excitement surrounding SpaceX’s highly anticipated IPO in June.

SPCE stock surged 160% in May, while posting its best weekly performance on record last week. Shares also jumped 20% in overnight trading heading into Monday.

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Options-Backed Bet On SPCE

A filing from Friday showed that investor Rich Huang and RichRich Capital LLC disclosed a 5.26% stake in Virgin Galactic. According to the filing, RichRich Capital reported owning 4.87 million shares, representing 4.62% of the company, consisting of 304,600 shares, along with call options on an additional 4.57 million shares.

Huang, the sole member of RichRich Capital, reported a total stake of 5.58 million shares, representing 5.26% of Virgin Galactic. In addition to the firm’s holdings, Huang disclosed call options representing another 708,500 shares, including 284,100 in an individual retirement account (IRA) and 424,400 personally held.

Last week, Virgin Galactic also disclosed preliminary court approval of a proposed settlement in shareholder derivative litigation. Under the agreement, the company’s insurers would pay $2.75 million to the company, with Virgin Galactic retaining half of the proceeds if the settlement receives final court approval. The defendants have denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

SpaceX Countdown Lifts Space Sector

The disclosure comes as the space sector has attracted renewed investor attention after SpaceX’s long-awaited IPO filing. SpaceX is reportedly preparing to begin formal marketing as early as June and could raise as much as $75 billion in potentially the largest initial public offering in Wall Street history. The filing reignited investor interest across publicly traded space stocks.

Virgin Galactic acknowledged the growing interest in the SpaceX IPO during its first-quarter (Q1) earnings call: “I think that’s positive and well merited,” CEO Michael Colglazier said. “Obviously, a lot of energy around the SpaceX IPO as that seems to be coming forward. I think that will continue … to just generate more innovation within commercial space. A lot of good things coming as SpaceX continues to mature and goes forward. I think we will benefit from that.”

Story Continues

Virgin Galactic Eyes Q4 Spaceflight Return

While SpaceX’s business spans launch services, satellites, connectivity and AI infrastructure, Virgin Galactic is a commercial human spaceflight company. “One thing is we are clearly focused in this first business model on human spaceflight,” Colglazier said. “Theirs [SpaceX] starts at $50 million up. Ours is starting at $750,000.”

During the Q1 earnings call, Virgin Galactic also said that the first Delta-class spaceship has been delivered from its assembly hangar to its test and launch facility in Phoenix, where ground testing is underway. The company remains on track to begin glide-flight testing in the third quarter and rocket-powered spaceflight tests in the fourth quarter.

The company has also started fabrication of its second operational Delta-class spaceship, which is expected to enter service between late 2026 and early 2027. Virgin said the second vehicle should help increase flight frequency in the first half of 2027.

Virgin Galactic’s Flight Tests Draw Closer

Last week, Virgin Galactic said its VSS Unity spacecraft had resumed flying at Spaceport America as part of preparations for the company’s Delta fleet. The glide flights allow pilots, maintenance teams and mission control staff to practice the procedures they will use when Delta enters testing. According to the company, Unity’s flight and landing characteristics closely resemble those of the new spacecraft.

Virgin Galactic expects Delta glide testing to begin in the third quarter, with rocket-powered spaceflights planned for the fourth quarter. The new spacecraft can fly far more often than previous generations, with a target of up to two flights per week and a lifespan of more than 500 missions.

Jefferies noted after its Q1 results that Virgin Galactic remained on schedule for ground testing in the second quarter, flight testing in the third quarter, and commercial service in the fourth quarter. The firm also highlighted the reopening of ticket sales and said the company’s cash position provides “a window of safety.” Virgin Galactic expects its flight cadence to increase to four flights per month in January 2027 and eight flights per month by the second quarter of 2027.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About SPCE?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward SPCE climbed from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ over the past week, reaching a record 91/100 as message volume surged nearly 2,900%.

SPCE sentiment and message volume as of May 31 | Source: Stocktwits

One user said investors could be pricing in four potential catalysts ahead of Monday’s trading session: Blue Origin’s setback, a newly disclosed 5% investor stake in Virgin Galactic, SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, and potential option-related buying pressure from May 29 call contracts. They also added: “Monday will likely be a 200-300% day. You will leave good amount of money on the table if you don’t buy in the morning.”

Another user said, “$SPCE this will rip all this week. Too much anticipation for the SPACEX IPO.”

SPCE stock has jumped 83% over the past year.

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Deepti Sri has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits’ news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.

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