AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Up 5.1% – Here’s Why

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

Key Stories Impacting AST SpaceMobile

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

• Negative Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile priced $1.0 billion of 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2034, sparking concerns about dilution and funding needs. AST SpaceMobile Announces Pricing of Private Offering of $1.0 Billion of Convertible Senior Notes Due 2034
• Negative Sentiment: The company also disclosed a delay in its commercial satellite service timeline, adding to worries that execution may take longer than expected. ASTS Trending After a Rough Week Marked by a $1 Billion Notes Sale, Service Delay
• Negative Sentiment: Broader weakness in space stocks, including selloff pressure tied to SpaceX-related headlines, has weighed on ASTS sentiment as well. AST SpaceMobile Stock Sinks as SpaceX Fallout Rattles Space Sector
• Neutral Sentiment: Some bullish commentary is offsetting the selloff, with Piper Sandler upgrading ASTS to strong-buy and other analysts arguing the market may be overreacting to the financing news. Zacks.com
• Neutral Sentiment: Supporters note AST SpaceMobile still has commitments from nearly 60 global carriers and more than $1.2 billion in signed agreements, which could support long-term revenue growth if execution improves. AST SpaceMobile: Why I Bought The Dip

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASTS. New Street Research set a $106.00 price objective on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $117.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AST SpaceMobile has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of -32.47 and a beta of 2.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 18.47 and a quick ratio of 18.37.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 24.87% and a negative net margin of 573.67%.The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. AST SpaceMobile’s revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile 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 transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. The trade was a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. This represents a 25.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,492 over the last three months. 20.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vodafone Ventures Ltd bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth about $397,413,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter worth approximately $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after buying an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,569,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,967 shares during the last quarter. 60.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.