AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 5.1% – Still a Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price shot up 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $61.67 and last traded at $57.80. Approximately 30,212,988 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 62% from the average daily volume of 18,693,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.01.

Key AST SpaceMobile News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reportedly upgraded AST SpaceMobile to Strong Buy, suggesting at least one bullish analyst sees value after the selloff.
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary says the $1 billion notes offering may be less dilutive than feared, with proponents arguing the market has misunderstood the financing impact.
• Positive Sentiment: Long-term optimism remains tied to ASTS’s strategy to build a space-based cellular network for standard smartphones, with nearly 60 global carriers committed and access to a large subscriber base.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles framed the move as part of a broader space-stock selloff, with ASTS trading alongside weakness in other names in the sector.
• Negative Sentiment: ASTS priced $1 billion of 1.625% convertible notes due 2034, which sparked concerns about financing risk and potential shareholder dilution.
• Negative Sentiment: The company also disclosed a delay to its commercial satellite service timeline, adding execution concerns to the investment case.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and media coverage pointed to weakening sentiment, valuation concerns, and a consensus Reduce rating, all of which are weighing on the stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ASTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of -32.47 and a beta of 2.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.12. The company has a quick ratio of 18.37, a current ratio of 18.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total value of $3,854,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492 in the last three months. Company insiders own 20.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 16,350.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Portus Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.