Reporting, Launch Delays Sink Orbital ATK Shares 20%

Orbital ATK shares fell more than a fifth of their value on Wednesday after the company announced it would miss a quarterly report filing deadline and delayed the launch of the upgraded US Antares rocket.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Shares of the US defense contractor Orbital ATK fell more than a fifth of their value on Wednesday after the company announced it would miss a quarterly report filing deadline and delayed the launch of the upgraded US Antares rocket, according to New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) data posted on MarketWatch.

"Today’s close: $70.79. Change: $17.98 [or] 20.25 percent," data showed on Wednesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the company announced that it would delay the second quarterly report filing due to an ongoing review of accounting matters "related to a Defense Systems Group contract."

The accounting problem is related to a $2.3 billion US Army contract to manufacture and supply small caliber ammunition, according to US media reports.

Additionally, Orbital postponed the first launch the US Antares rocket, powered by the Russian RD-180 engine, until late September.

The company attributed the delay to inspection and testing of the flight vehicle as well as NASA’s scheduling of crew activities on the International Space Station.