AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 17% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) was down 17% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $53.33 and last traded at $55.01. Approximately 52,435,342 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 182% from the average daily volume of 18,602,479 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.31.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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

• Negative Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile priced a $1 billion convertible senior notes offering, which investors are viewing as a potential dilution and balance-sheet headwind. Article: AST SpaceMobile Announces Pricing of Private Offering of $1.0 Billion of Convertible Senior Notes Due 2034
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on delays in the commercial satellite launch timeline, which adds to concerns that AST SpaceMobile may need more time and capital before its business model scales. Article: AST SpaceMobile stock sinks on double dose of bad news
• Neutral Sentiment: Several updates remained constructive for the long-term story, including regulatory approvals in New Zealand, Bell Canada completing a ground station in Québec, and progress on upcoming BlueBird launches. Article: AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Secures Global Approvals As Texas Expansion And Launches Near
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s stock has also been under pressure from broader speculation about capital use and whether the raise could support strategic acquisitions, which adds uncertainty but no confirmed transaction. Article: ASTS Stock Extends Selloff Overnight: Analyst Thinks It’s About To Buy A Rocket Company With $1B Raise

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ASTS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 17.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47. The company has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.90 and a beta of 2.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.46.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $4,297,342.29. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth $397,413,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at about $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after buying an additional 1,253,967 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AST SpaceMobile

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.