AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Up 10.3% – Here’s What Happened

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price was up 10.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $64.63 and last traded at $63.34. Approximately 18,262,186 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 18,653,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.42.

Key AST SpaceMobile News

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile completed its private offering of $1.15 billion of convertible senior notes due 2034, boosting liquidity and funding flexibility for its satellite network plans. AST SpaceMobile Announces Completion of Private Offering of $1.15 Billion of Convertible Senior Notes Due 2034
• Positive Sentiment: Shares were helped by a broader risk-on move in space stocks, with the sector rebounding after recent weakness. AST SpaceMobile Catapults 12%, SpaceX Rises 7%, Virgin Galactic and Rocket Lab Rally as Space Stock Trade Takes a Risk-on Turn
• Positive Sentiment: A new bullish note argued the convertible financing supports AST SpaceMobile’s long-term growth and could accelerate its constellation timeline, reinforcing the stock’s investment case. AST SpaceMobile: Convertible Notes Accelerate Its Full Potential (Rating Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: There was also a premarket headline about Midland approving a much larger factory incentive package, which may support manufacturing plans but does not directly change near-term fundamentals. ASTS Stock Jumps Premarket: Midland Approves Factory Nearly 5x Larger Than AST SpaceMobile’s Original Plant
• Negative Sentiment: Investor caution remains high after a law firm announced it is investigating claims on behalf of ASTS investors, which can add uncertainty and pressure sentiment. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. – ASTS
• Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer’s comments calling AST SpaceMobile “losing a fortune” and warning it could fall further may weigh on sentiment among retail traders. Jim Cramer Says Buy Lyft at $15, But Warns AST SpaceMobile Is “Losing a Fortune” and Could Fall to $40

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASTS. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AST SpaceMobile currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.95.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 10.3%

The company has a market capitalization of $24.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.58 and a beta of 2.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.26 and a two-hundred day simple 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.43). The company had revenue of $14.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.37, for a total transaction of $3,854,800.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 34,750 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,857.50. This represents a 53.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 105,809 shares of company stock worth $9,748,492 over the last three months. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vodafone Ventures Ltd bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the fourth quarter valued at about $397,413,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $198,270,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 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 increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 8,016.7% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,269,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.