TradingKey – Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) jumped 21.7% to $5.73, a move retail investors drove as a substitute for SpaceX ahead of the rocket company’s NASDAQ listing. However, on June 12, the stock finished at $3.91, falling 31.76% in a single session, the largest drop of all major space stocks on SpaceX IPO day. Rocket Lab slid 7.7%, Intuitive Machines dropped 15%, Redwire fell 14%, and Virgin Galactic shed 31.76%. The week encapsulated the trajectory of borrowed hype: those who paid $5.73 for shares at Thursday’s close were down 32% at Friday’s close.

The primary structural factor contributing to SPCE falling harder than its competitors in Q1 2026 was the company’s $227,000 in revenue, $65 million in net loss, and roughly $251…