Equities

Astra Stock Drops with No End in Sight

Image: Astra

Astra ($ASTR) stock dropped another 19% yesterday to 75 cents a pop as it continues its downhill march. 

The startup executed a stock split a month ago in an effort to elevate its share price above $1.00 and keep its place on the NYSE. But share prices have again plummeted, dropping 70%, back to below a buck. 

With investors exiting stage left, the launch startup’s market cap sits at just $14M—a far cry from the $2.1B valuation the company garnered when it went public during 2021’s SPAC-apalooza. 

Heart of the issue: The company reported $36.7M of cash flow burn in Q2 alone, leaving it with just $26.3M in the bank. In an attempt to keep the lights on, the company slashed G&A expenses in half and redoubled focus on spacecraft thruster production.  

Bloomberg reported last week that Astra is looking to sell 51% of its space propulsion business at a $100M valuation. The news did nothing to stop Astra’s freefall, with investors likely deeming the a potential sale as unrealistic. 

Small launch: Small rocket startups have had a rough year with Virgin Orbit going under, Rocket Lab suffering a launch anomaly, and the market struggling to compete with SpaceX’s rideshare business. Despite the challenges, small launch continues to pick up solid wins, including Firefly’s recent 24-hour Victus Nox launch and Spanish rocket startup PLD’s first launch.  

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