Virgin Galactic's CEO says he's 'gratified' by the stock skyrocketing about 200% this year

• Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides celebrated its stock rocketing about 200% since January.
• "We're gratified by the share price," he said on the space-tourism startup's full-year earnings call on Tuesday.
• Virgin Galactic stock has roughly tripled from under $11 at the start of January to north of $32.
• The company boasts a $6 billion market capitalization, despite earning just $4 million in revenue last year.
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Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides is, unsurprisingly, pleased that the company's stock price has skyrocketed 186% since the start of this year.

"We're gratified by the share price," the space-tourism startup's boss said on the group's full-year earnings call on Tuesday. He also appreciated the "excitement that people have felt about this opportunity to really transform how we move around the planet."

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However, the group is "really focused on the engineering," Whitesides added. In other words, its chief concern is safely and reliably transporting customers into space and back.

Virgin Galactic's stock price has soared from under $11 at the start of January to north of $32. The remarkable run up has lifted its market capitalization to north of $6 billion. Yet the company, which went public last October, made less than $4 million in revenue and posted a net loss of $211 million last year, its full-year earnings showed.

Investors are betting on a far brighter future. Virgin Galactic has received nearly 8,000 registrations of interest, accepted about $80 million in deposits from more than 600 people, and had $480 million in available cash at the end of 2019. Its "top priority" this year is to fly founder Richard Branson into space on a commercial flight, Whitesides said on the call.