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

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s stock price was up 2.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $86.29 and last traded at $85.82. Approximately 7,515,337 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 16,041,813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.90.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research cut AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s 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 Price Performance

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

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Tower Corp /Ma/ American sold 2,288,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.75, for a total transaction of $159,631,314.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 211,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,743,685.25. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of AST SpaceMobile stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total value of $2,940,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,220. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 532,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,158,000 after acquiring an additional 172,759 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 342.2% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 132,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 102,217 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,754,000. Yarbrough Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Yarbrough Capital LLC now owns 99,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 21,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 77,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 9,448 shares in the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.