AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares traded up 2.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $86.29 and last traded at $85.82. 7,515,337 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 16,041,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.90.

Trending Headlines about AST SpaceMobile

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

• Positive Sentiment: Won a $30 million prime contract from the U.S. Space Development Agency (HALO Europa program), positioning ASTS to carry Department of Defense traffic and expanding its government revenue runway; this defense award is the main catalyst behind the rally. Business Wire
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the same SDA award and market reaction — coverage highlights ASTS as a SpaceX competitor for government direct-to-device messaging, reinforcing investor perception of growing defense-commercial diversification. Yahoo Finance
• Positive Sentiment: Deployed BlueBird 6 satellite (largest commercial comms array in LEO) — a technical milestone that advances ASTS’s direct-to-smartphone service and supports longer-term revenue potential from commercial and government customers. Yahoo Finance (BlueBird 6)
• Neutral Sentiment: Completed an upsized $1.075 billion convertible bond offering to fund network expansion — provides sizable near-term liquidity for satellite deployments but raises dilution/convertibility questions that investors must price. Yahoo Finance (Funding)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts warn consensus expects a decline in earnings for the upcoming report — this tempers expectations that operational wins will translate to immediate profitability. Yahoo Finance (Analysts)
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage and analysis emphasize ASTS is still seeking positive free cash flow; investors should view contract wins and deployments as de-risking but not a guarantee of near-term cash profitability. Seeking Alpha

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASTS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $52.94.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a current ratio of 9.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.21 and a beta of 2.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.46 and a 200-day moving average of $71.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $349,220. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total value of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,743,685.25. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,015 shares of company stock worth $149,144 and have sold 2,354,621 shares worth $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.