Head to Head Review: AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) versus Charge Enterprises (NASDAQ:CRGE)

Charge Enterprises (NASDAQ:CRGE) and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Charge Enterprises and AST SpaceMobile”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Charge Enterprises	$641.37 million	0.01	-$30.35 million	($0.20)	-0.19
AST SpaceMobile	$70.92 million	342.42	-$341.94 million	($2.14)	-29.16

Charge Enterprises has higher revenue and earnings than AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Charge Enterprises, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

21.2% of Charge Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of AST SpaceMobile shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Charge Enterprises shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of AST SpaceMobile shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Charge Enterprises and AST SpaceMobile, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Charge Enterprises	0	0	0	0	0.00
AST SpaceMobile	2	5	6	0	2.31

AST SpaceMobile has a consensus target price of $86.58, suggesting a potential upside of 38.75%. Given AST SpaceMobile’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AST SpaceMobile is more favorable than Charge Enterprises.

Profitability

This table compares Charge Enterprises and AST SpaceMobile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Charge Enterprises	-5.76%	-136.79%	-20.11%
AST SpaceMobile	-536.66%	-22.88%	-10.67%

Risk & Volatility

Charge Enterprises has a beta of 2.49, suggesting that its share price is 149% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AST SpaceMobile has a beta of 2.74, suggesting that its share price is 174% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AST SpaceMobile beats Charge Enterprises on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Charge Enterprises

Charge Enterprises Inc. operates as an electrical, broadband, and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure company. The company provides clients with end-to-end project management services, including advising, designing, engineering, acquiring and installing equipment, monitoring, servicing, and maintenance. It operates in two segments, Infrastructure and Telecommunications. The Infrastructure segment offers broadband and wireless, electrical contracting, electric vehicle charging, and fleet services. The Telecommunications segment provides internet-protocol-based and time-division multiplexing access for transport of long-distance voice and data minutes; domestic switching and related peripheral equipment services, and carrier-grade routers and switches for internet and circuit-based services, as well as connection of voice calls and data services. The company was formerly known as TransWorld Holdings Inc and changed its name to Charge Enterprises, Inc. in January 2021. Charge Enterprises, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is based in New York, New York. On March 7, 2024, Charge Enterprises, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.