Financial Survey: AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) and Data Storage (NASDAQ:DTST)

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) and Data Storage (NASDAQ:DTST) are both communication services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

AST SpaceMobile has a beta of 2.72, indicating that its share price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Data Storage has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AST SpaceMobile and Data Storage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AST SpaceMobile	$70.92 million	320.74	-$341.94 million	($2.14)	-27.31
Data Storage	$1.38 million	5.63	$19.20 million	($0.76)	-4.37

Data Storage has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Data Storage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for AST SpaceMobile and Data Storage, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AST SpaceMobile	2	7	5	0	2.21
Data Storage	1	0	0	0	1.00

AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus price target of $84.58, indicating a potential upside of 44.70%. Given AST SpaceMobile’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AST SpaceMobile is more favorable than Data Storage.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

61.0% of AST SpaceMobile shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.6% of Data Storage shares are held by institutional investors. 20.9% of AST SpaceMobile shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.2% of Data Storage shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares AST SpaceMobile and Data Storage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AST SpaceMobile	-536.66%	-22.88%	-10.67%
Data Storage	1,247.09%	-5.48%	-4.86%

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.

About Data Storage

Data Storage Corporation provides data management and cloud solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers a suite of multi-cloud IT solutions, including cyber security solutions, which comprise ezSecurity, a security solution for endpoint security, system assessments, and risk analysis, as well as IBM system protection, including Ransomware defense. The company also provides data protection and recovery solutions, such as ezVault for offsite data protection; ezRecovery for fast data recovery; ezAvailability for real-time data replication with minimal recovery objectives; and ezMirror for data mirroring at the storage level. In addition, it offers cloud hosted production systems comprising ezHost, which delivers managed cloud services; and voice and data solutions, including Nexxis, which specializes in voice over internet protocol, internet access, and data transport solutions, which comprise dedicated internet services, SD-WAN options, and a cloud-based PBX solution. The company offers its solutions and services to businesses in healthcare, banking and finance, distribution services, manufacturing, construction, education, and government industries. Data Storage Corporation was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Melville, New York.