Why Virgin Galactic Stock Dropped 8.1% Tuesday

Volatility continues for the space tourism company.

What happened

Shares of space tourism companyVirgin Galactic(NYSE:SPCE)dropped as much as 8.1% in trading on Tuesday following a day whenshares jumped 27.6%. At 1:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, shares were down 6.2%.

So what

Yesterday's pop was driven by Virgin Galactic's successful space flight over the weekend following months of delays. There's no news out Tuesday, so thisgrowth stockis simply giving back some of the gains from yesterday.

VIRGIN GALACTIC'S SPACECRAFT RETURNING TO EARTH. IMAGE SOURCE: VIRGIN GALACTIC.

As essentially a pre-revenue company, Virgin Galactic is extremely speculative, and investors are grasping at any piece of news to determine where the company is going. Delays this spring caused the stock to drop, and then the latest successful space flight caused shares to rise. Don't be surprised if there are a lot of ups and downs for the company as it moves closer to commercial space flights with paying customers later this year.

Now what

If you're a Virgin Galactic investor, like me, this is some of the volatility we can expect. As flights progress, the stock will likely be extremely volatile. But what's crucial will be how much revenue and profit the company can earn once it reaches maturity. That process will take years, and until then investors are in for a bumpy ride.