Could Virgin Galactic's Successful Mission Help These 2 Stocks Soar?

On Sunday Virgin Galactic SPCE founder Sir Richard Branson reached his dream of flying to the edge of space aboard Unity 22. The successful mission marked the 22nd test flight for the space tourism company and the first since receiving FAA approval to fly civilian passengers to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.

With the possibility of visiting space becoming more of a reality, at least for the ultra-wealthy, traders and investors may begin looking for other companies involved in space advancement and technology.

The following two stocks could get a boost from Virgin Galactic’s successful flight.

See Also: Richard Branson Hangs Out With Elon Musk Before Historic Spaceflight

Maxar Technologies Inc MAXR, a space infrastructure and Earth intelligence-focused company, assists governments and businesses in monitoring global change and advancing the use of space. The company is on track to launch its new Worldview Legion satellites this year.

Although not a pure-play space stock, Trimble Inc TRMB is the largest holding, at 9.56%, in Cathie Wood’s ARK Space and Exploration ETF ARKX. 20% of Trimble’s revenue comes from its geospatial category, which includes GPS satellites and survey solution technology that can be used to survey space.

The Maxar Chart: On June 7, Maxar’s stock broke up bullish from a descending trendline that had been holding it down since reaching a Jan. 20 all-time high of $58.75. The stock then reached a high of $42.59 before retracing down to the $34.96 mark where it bounced indicating it may have put in a bottom.

Maxar is trading below the eight-day and 21-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), but the eight-day EMA is still trending slightly above the 21-day EMA, which indicates indecision. The stock is trading below the 200-day simple moving average (SMA), which indicates overall sentiment in the stock is bearish.

It can be noted, however, that all three moving averages are within about 10% of Friday’s closing price and Maxar’s stock can has been able to make moves of about 20% in a single day.

Bulls want to see big bullish volume enter Maxar to push it back up over a resistance level at $38.73, which would allow it to regain the support of the moving averages. If it can regain the levels as support, it has room to move up to the $42.59 mark.

Bears want to see bearish volume push Maxar’s stock down below a support line at $31.66. If the stock were to drop below the level it could fall toward $31.66

The Trimble Chart: Trimble’s stock has quietly been hanging out near its April 6 all-time high of $84.87 for the past eight trading days. On Thursday, Trimble printed a long-legged doji candlestick which indicated indecision as there was an equal number of buyers and sellers of the stock. On Friday, all indecision left the stock when bulls came in and drove the stock up 2.17%.

Trimble’s stock is trading above both the eight-day and 21-day EMAs and above the 200-day SMA, which indicates sentiment is bullish for both the short and long term. Thursday’s bearish action tested the 200-day SMA as support and bounced from it giving bulls confidence the stock is reacting to the indicator.

Bulls want to see big bullish volume drive Trimble’s stock up to its previous all-time high. Bulls would then like to see continued momentum give the stock an all-time high run. If it can make a new all-time high, Trimble doesn’t have any resistances in the form of previous price action to hold it knock it down.

Bears want to see selling pressure drop Trimble’s stock down below support at the $81.71 mark. If it loses the area as support, it could retest the 200-day SMA and if the level was lost Trimble could fall toward $77.81.

MAXR and TRMB Price Action: Shares of Maxar closed flat Friday at $35.67, while Trimble’s stock closed up at $83.26.