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Virgin Galactic shares tumbles nearly 9% in early trading,as Morgan Stanley Downgrades to 'Underweight' as Sole Mothership 'Eve' Will Be Grounded for 8-Months for Upgrades.

Morgan Stanley analyst Kristine Liwag downgraded (NYSE: SPCE) to “Underweight” from “Equal-weight” as the company’s sole mothership Eve is grounded for enhancements for 8 months starting in September.

“We expect shares to return towards long-term valuation of $25 as the company completes a catalyst rich period after Sir Richard Branson’s successful flight and transitions to a prolonged period of no flights. After the expected flight of Unity 23in September 2021, the company’s sole mothership, Eve, will be grounded for an 8 month enhancement period. During this heavy maintenance period, Virgin Galactic will not be able to conduct any space flights until summer of 2022. We view it positively that the company is investing in increasing its long-term space flight capacity; however, these investments take time,” Liwag wrote in a note sent to clients.

The enhancements planned will improve Eve and allow it to fly more than once per week. Before the Eve is grounded, the company has scheduled an additional flight test for September this year. In case everything ends well with this test flight, it is likely that shares will move higher as this would prove to be another positive catalyst.

“Another successful flight could be a positive catalyst for the stock as it would reaffirm that Virgin Galactic’s concept for space flight works. Unity 23 will carry members of the Italian Air Force to space to conduct microgravity research,” the analyst added.

Liwag says the fact that Eve is a sole mothership represents a “limiting” factor for SPCE. Prior to Delta, the maximum capacity now is 36 flights per year.