Investors cashed out when the company announced Monday that it could sell up to $500 million in stock to help fund development of its spaceship fleet.
The S&P 500 retreated from all-time highs to finish in the red as big bank stocks kicked off second-quarter earnings season with mixed reports. Shares of commercial spaceflight stock Virgin Galactic dropped 37% last week after influential founder Richard Branson beat out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk and became the first of the three billionaires to travel to space. Virgin shares experienced a huge run-up prior to Branson’s flight, but investors cashed out when the company announced on Monday that it could sell up to $500 million in stock to help fund development of its spaceship fleet. On Tuesday, the Labor Department reported the consumer price index increased by 5.4% in June compared with a year ago, its biggest jump in nearly 13 years.
