AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Climb 14.1% – Should You Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) traded up 14.1% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $38.20 and last traded at $36.89. 25,560,611 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average session volume of 16,806,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.33.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten Group agreed to form Rakuten AST to build a direct-to-smartphone satellite network in Japan. Reports cite roughly $1 billion in expected government support, giving AST a potential government-backed customer and a foothold in a market where major carriers use Starlink. Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile Establish Rakuten AST Joint Venture
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also weighing possible government and defense demand, including a reported potential Space Force opportunity. Analysts see government demand growing, though this remains an anticipated catalyst rather than a confirmed award. AST SpaceMobile and a potential Space Force opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: ASTS is reporting results after the market close. Wall Street expects quarterly revenue of about $46 million, more than triple the year-ago figure, while Cantor is cautiously optimistic about demand but flags launch costs. Results and management’s outlook could drive the next move. Cantor’s outlook ahead of AST SpaceMobile earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-wide strength in space stocks and the broader market, along with possible short covering ahead of earnings, may also be supporting shares, independent of new company fundamentals. What is driving the pre-earnings rally
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms publicized a securities class action alleging AST overstated its capital position and competitive lead; the allegations are unproven. Separately, UBS lowered its price target and Scotiabank downgraded the shares to Sell, citing concerns that add to investor risk. Class action notice and analyst reassessments

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 12th. UBS Group initiated coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of AST SpaceMobile to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, September 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.67.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 14.1%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a PE ratio of -17.24 and a beta of 2.88. The company has a quick ratio of 12.90, a current ratio of 13.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 9th. The company reported ($0.44) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $42.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.73 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 22.88% and a negative net margin of 536.66%. Equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Adriana Cisneros purchased 10,822 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $57.22 per share, for a total transaction of $619,234.84. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 797,023 shares in the company, valued at $45,605,656.06. The trade was a 1.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti Gupta sold 12,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.89, for a total value of $706,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 462,980 shares in the company, valued at $27,264,892.20. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 20.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 140.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,644,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,259,000 after buying an additional 960,045 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,316,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,128,000 after acquiring an additional 164,303 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9,876.8% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,049,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,546 shares during the period. Tema ETFs LLC increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 109,486.8% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 1,003,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,899 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 21.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 837,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,409,000 after acquiring an additional 148,464 shares during the period. 60.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc develops a space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly with standard mobile phones, without requiring users to purchase specialized satellite devices. Its planned services include voice calls, text messaging and mobile broadband, delivered through partnerships with mobile network operators and integrated with their existing networks.

The company is developing and deploying its BlueBird satellite system to provide coverage in areas where terrestrial cellular networks are unavailable or limited.