AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemAST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $85.53, but opened at $74.10. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $78.6090, with a volume of 14,436,821 shares trading hands.
AST SpaceMobile News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting AST SpaceMobile this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Company has a strong liquidity and contract backlog (management cites ~$3.9B cash and >$1.2B in partner commitments), which helps absorb a one‑satellite loss and fund continued production. Zacks: Can AST SpaceMobile Regain its Mojo?
- Positive Sentiment: Management says the BlueBird‑7 loss will be covered by insurance and reiterated its broader launch cadence and constellation goals, limiting immediate cash‑flow impact. Yahoo Finance: Satellite Loss Puts Execution and Valuation in Focus
- Neutral Sentiment: Management and some analysts argue the long‑term thesis remains intact (large addressable market, carrier partnerships and government work), but execution and cadence now matter more than ever. Seeking Alpha: What the Selloff Gets Wrong
- Negative Sentiment: Blue Origin’s New Glenn placed BlueBird‑7 into too‑low an orbit, rendering the satellite unusable and forcing de‑orbit plans — a clear execution setback that raises doubts about near‑term deployment cadence. TechCrunch: New Glenn Misplaced AST Satellite
- Negative Sentiment: Market reaction has been sharp (multi‑billion dollar market‑cap drop and multi‑percent intraday moves), reflecting elevated execution risk and investor sensitivity to missed launches. TheStreet: AST Loses $2B in Market Cap
- Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/legal risk: a law firm has opened an investigation into possible securities claims, which can prolong negative headlines and add downside pressure while inquiries proceed. GlobeNewswire: Portnoy Law Firm Investigation
- Negative Sentiment: Leveraged products tied to ASTS (e.g., ASTX 2x ETF) amplify losses and volatility decay risk; attention to those instruments can increase selling pressure in volatile stretches. Seeking Alpha: ASTX Falls 2x ASTS After BlueBird‑7 Failure
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms recently issued reports on ASTS. Barclays boosted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, New Street Research set a $115.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $82.51.
Read Our Latest Research Report on ASTS
AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a current ratio of 16.35. The company has a market capitalization of $30.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.61 and a beta of 2.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $88.15 and a 200-day moving average of $83.72.
AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.02% and a negative net margin of 482.16%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile
In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 29,330,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,080,000 shares of company stock worth $274,452,000 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 3,515 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 64,989 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,405,000 after acquiring an additional 49,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 1st quarter worth about $168,000. 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.