AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Down 4.5% – What’s Next?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) fell 4.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $57.66 and last traded at $59.18. Approximately 11,852,031 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average daily volume of 18,589,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.95.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts remain constructive on AST SpaceMobile, saying the recent selloff may be a buying opportunity and pointing to long-term upside from direct-to-device satellite connectivity. AST SpaceMobile’s 50% Pullback Is A Buying Opportunity, Says Clear Street Ahead Of Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile’s satellite rollout continues, with the CEO saying BlueBird satellites 8, 9 and 10 are fully deployed and more satellites are already at Cape Canaveral, reinforcing the buildout story. ASTS Stock Rises Overnight: CEO Says BlueBirds 8, 9 And 10 Are Fully Deployed — With 3 More Satellites Already At Cape
• Positive Sentiment: AT&T signaled that AST SpaceMobile’s satellite offering should “come to fruition” next year, helping validate demand for the service and its network expansion plans. ASTS Stock Eyes Weekly Comeback: AT&T Says AST SpaceMobile Satellite Offering Will ‘Come To Fruition’ Next Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage continues to frame ASTS as a high-variance stock, with bull-case estimates around $108 versus bear-case estimates near $41, underscoring big uncertainty around execution and valuation. AST SpaceMobile ASTS stock: $108 bull case vs $41 bear case
• Neutral Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile also received another favorable analyst write-up calling it a buy, adding to the supportive but not decisive analyst sentiment. AST SpaceMobile is a buy, this analyst says
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investor investigation into AST SpaceMobile, which can add legal uncertainty and pressure the stock. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. – ASTS
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on AST SpaceMobile’s $1 billion note offering, which could fund a launch-provider acquisition but raises concerns about leverage and dilution risk if execution slips. Is Buying a Launch Company AST SpaceMobile’s Next Vertical Integration Move?

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ASTS. Barclays lifted their price target on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. B. Riley Financial raised AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Down 4.5%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $85.81 and a 200-day moving average of $88.98. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.25 and a beta of 2.69.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,244,498.39. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,492. 20.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth approximately $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 402,505 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 350,690 shares during 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.