How To Tell If Virgin Galactic Is a Profitable Company

By Chris Stiles • Sunday, May 07 09:41 • Permanent Link

Shares of Small-cap company Virgin Galactic were up 4.3% during today's morning session, as the S&P 500 posted a 2.0% change. Today's upwards movement shows that investor interest in SPCE stock is strong -- but how closely have they studied the company's margins?

While Virgin Galactic's gross margins for the last year are positive, we are concerned that the company's operating margins are in the red. Gross margins take into account only the cost of revenue, or variable costs -- meaning the cost directly associated with producing the products or providing the service offered by the company.

Operating margins, on the other hand, take into account the company's overhead as well. Overhead, also called fixed costs, includes the company's rent, salaries for personnel not included in cost of revenue, equipment and supplies, amortization, and depreciation. Operating margins tell you about how efficiently Virgin Galactic is run, and gross margins tell you how profitable its product line is.

Date Reported	Revenue ($ k)	Cost of Revenue ($ k)	Gross Margins (%)	YoY Growth (%)
2022-12-31	2,312	1,906	17.56	-80.86
2021-12-31	3,292	272	91.74	235.92
2020-12-31	238	173	27.31	-41.89
2019-12-31	3,781	2,004	47	n/a

Virgin Galactic's gross margins are currently in the green, but this might not be the case for long. Since its cost of revenue is growing at a rate of -1.2% compared to -11.6% for its revenues, its gross margins have been shrinking -21.8% on average each year.

Date Reported	Total Revenue ($ k)	Operating Expenses ($ k)	Operating Margins (%)	YoY Growth (%)
2022-12-31	2,312	500,390	-21625.6	-122.8
2021-12-31	3,292	322,555	-9706.41	91.61
2020-12-31	238	275,349	-115666	-1950.68
2019-12-31	3,781	215,039	-5640.36	n/a

The table above tells us that, on average, Virgin Galactic has not been profitable over the last four years, which should be a warning sign to prospective investors. Indeed, the company's operating margins are sinking at rate of -39.9%

The above analysis is intended for educational purposes only and was performed on the basis of publicly available data. It is not to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any buy, sell, or other recommendations mentioned in the article are direct quotations of consensus recommendations from the analysts covering the stock, and do not represent the opinions of Market Inference or its writers. Past performance, accounting data, and inferences about market position and corporate valuation are not reliable indicators of future price movements. Market Inference does not provide financial advice. Investors should conduct their own review and analysis of any company of interest before making an investment decision.