The shares of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) are skyrocketing today, last seen up 9.6% at $8.92 at last check, after the company announced ticket sales for initial spaceflight reservations will open to the general public tomorrow, Feb. 16. The company said it plans to have 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later in 2022, with the total price of a reservation totaling $450,000, and requiring a $150,000 deposit.
Prior to today's announcement, Virgin Galactic stock was chopping lower on the charts, culminating in a Jan. 24, two-year low of $7.58. The security has since found support at the $8 mark, though overhead pressure remains at the 30-day moving average. Year-over-year, SPCE is down 83.4%.
Short sellers have been piling on the equity. Short interest rose 38.7% over the last two reporting periods, and the 43.94 million shares sold short make up a substantial 21.2% of the stock's available float.
Meanwhile, the options pits lean firmly bullish. Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), SPCE sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 3.85, which sits in the 92nd percentile of its 12-month range. In other words, calls have been picked up at a much quicker-than-usual clip.
That bullish sentiment is getting reinforced today. So far, 80,000 calls and 13,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is seven times the intraday average. Most popular is the February 11 call, followed by the 9 call in the same monthly series, with positions being opened at both.
It's also worth noting the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) stands at 99 out of 100. This means that SPCE has exceeded options traders' volatility expectations over the past year.