AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 3.7% on Analyst Upgrade

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares rose 3.7% during trading on Wednesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $90.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. AST SpaceMobile traded as high as $75.08 and last traded at $74.31. Approximately 11,185,413 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 18,058,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.63.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ASTS. Scotiabank raised AST SpaceMobile from a “sector underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $50.80 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, May 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.98.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,857.50. This trade represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Martin Johnson sold 45,809 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,244,498.39. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 90,809 shares of company stock worth $8,603,392 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting AST SpaceMobile

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile said it is targeting approximately 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by early 2027 and is moving toward beta service. SpaceX has launched six ASTS satellites this year, bringing the orbital fleet to 13 and supporting the company’s planned network expansion. ASTS Q2 Earnings Call Puts Beta Rollout and Government Growth in Focus
• Positive Sentiment: Management indicated that Vodafone and other mobile-network partners want direct-to-cell service rapidly, raising expectations for an imminent United Kingdom rollout and eventual commercial revenue. ASTS Stock Rises Overnight: AST SpaceMobile Clears the Runway for Imminent UK Direct-to-Cell Service
• Positive Sentiment: The company reaffirmed its 2026 revenue outlook of $150 million to $200 million. Its backlog is approximately $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion, while a reported $1 billion government J-LEO award and more than 60 mobile-network-operator partnerships strengthen the future revenue pipeline. AST SpaceMobile Stock Edges Higher Wednesday
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an overweight rating and raised its price target to $90, while Piper Sandler kept an overweight rating with a $98 target, providing supportive analyst sentiment. AST SpaceMobile Price Target Raised by Cantor Fitzgerald
• Neutral Sentiment: ASTS is being viewed as a high-risk, high-growth space investment: technical momentum and commercial-service optimism are offset by substantial execution risk and continuing cash needs.
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter results missed expectations. Revenue was $31.5 million versus an estimated $34.5 million, while the adjusted loss was $0.77 per share versus a consensus loss near $0.32. The wider loss reflects heavy network-buildout costs and capital expenditures. AST SpaceMobile Second Quarter Earnings Fall Short of Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings miss was reportedly the company’s sixth consecutive shortfall, and AST SpaceMobile continues to generate significant losses while commercial service revenue has not yet begun. AST SpaceMobile Earnings Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASTS. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position 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. KPP Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,649,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 1,062.9% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 77,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,665,000 after acquiring an additional 71,287 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 1st quarter worth approximately $996,000. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.47. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.72 and a beta of 2.75.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.45). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 536.66% and a negative return on equity of 23.32%. The business had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.41) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.