AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $80.01, but opened at $84.66. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $84.91, with a volume of 7,563,124 shares traded.

More AST SpaceMobile News

Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FCC approval: The FCC granted AST SpaceMobile commercial authority to launch and operate its NGSO SpaceMobile system in LEO — a meaningful regulatory milestone that clears a major U.S. hurdle for direct-to-phone commercial service. FCC Grants AST SpaceMobile Commercial Authority
• Positive Sentiment: Strong liquidity & commercial backlog: AST reported about $3.9B of cash/liquid resources and has secured >$1.2B in contracted partner commitments and multiple carrier partnerships (Verizon, AT&T, Vodafone, Rakuten), which supports funding runway and demand assumptions. MarketBeat coverage summarizing AST financials and contracts
• Positive Sentiment: Insurance should cover failed satellite cost: Reports indicate the misplaced BlueBird 7 will be de-orbited and that the loss is expected to be absorbed by insurance, limiting direct financial hit to AST. MarketBeat: BlueBird 7 de-orbit and insurance
• Neutral Sentiment: Production pipeline and guidance intact but tight: Management maintains an aggressive 2026 deployment target (45 satellites by year-end) and is ramping manufacturing, but schedule risk remains given prior delays and the need for regular successful launches. Seeking Alpha: What the selloff gets wrong
• Negative Sentiment: Launch failure / execution risk: A Blue Origin New Glenn mission placed AST’s BlueBird 7 in an unusable, lower-than-planned orbit; the satellite will be lost. That event cut into investor confidence, paused part of the launch cadence, and drove share weakness. Proactive Investors: Satellite placed in incorrect orbit
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: The Portnoy Law Firm announced an investigation into possible securities fraud and a potential class action, adding regulatory/legal overhang for investors. GlobeNewswire: Portnoy Law Firm Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation & volatility concerns: Commentary highlights very high forward multiples, elevated implied volatility, and impacts to leveraged products (e.g., ASTX), meaning downside can be magnified if execution slips or market sentiment turns. Seeking Alpha: Volatility and ASTX risks

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $32.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.59 and a beta of 2.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.72. The company has a quick ratio of 16.27, a current ratio of 16.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.53 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 29,330,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,080,000 shares of company stock worth $274,452,000 over the last 90 days. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares in the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,749,000 after acquiring an additional 402,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,011,000 after acquiring an additional 350,690 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AST SpaceMobile Company Profile

AST SpaceMobile is a U.S.-based aerospace company developing a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect standard mobile phones and other devices directly to satellites. The company’s core proposition is “space-to-cell” service: operating a constellation of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with large, high-power phased-array antennas to provide wide-area mobile broadband without requiring users to buy specialized terminals or handset modifications.

AST SpaceMobile designs, builds and operates satellite payloads and supporting ground infrastructure.