Why Boeing and Astra Space Dropped Monday, but Virgin Galactic Soared
The space travel sector has been in the news lately, and excitement continues on that front as Jeff Bezos plans to take a ride to the edge of space tomorrow on his company Blue Origin's maiden passenger voyage. Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE: SPCE) led the way carrying its founder about a week ago. Its stock is one of the few in the green Monday, jumping about 8% today as of 3:10 p.m. EDT. But shares of fellow space company start-up Astra Space (NASDAQ: ASTR) were down about 5%, while the stock of Boeing (NYSE: BA) -- which gets meaningful revenue from its defense, space, and security segment -- continued to struggle, dropping more than 5%.
Boeing's defense, space, and security segment represented 47% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2021. But the company's space portion is more of a potential future growth driver than a current contributor. Boeing does have satellite, space launch system, and global positioning system business. The company calls its Starliner "a next-generation space capsule that will take people to and from low-Earth orbit."
Boeing's Starliner is a next-generation space capsule that will take people to and from low-Earth orbit. Image source: Boeing.
Source Fool.com
