AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 2.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) rose 2.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $95.45 and last traded at $95.22. Approximately 11,625,351 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 17,442,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.72.

Key Stories Impacting AST SpaceMobile

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

• Positive Sentiment: Missile-defense prime contract — Being awarded a prime position on the MDA’s SHIELD IDIQ validates ASTS’s dual‑use LEO capabilities and makes the company eligible to bid on future task orders, boosting expectations for government revenue and defense market expansion. AST SpaceMobile Awarded Prime Contract Position on U.S.-Missile-Defense-Agency SHIELD Program
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage of the Pentagon win — Multiple outlets highlight the Golden Dome/SHIELD link and note the contract as a material validation of AST’s government pipeline, which traders view as a fresh revenue/credibility catalyst. Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring—Is This the Next Leg Up?
• Positive Sentiment: Operational/technical catalysts — Continued BlueBird program progress (BlueBird‑6 success and BlueBird‑7 integration) remains a near‑term growth story that supports longer‑term commercial and defense opportunity expansion. Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring—Is This the Next Leg Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Momentum/technical flow — Traders flagged a “Power Inflow” signal and the stock set fresh highs, amplifying buying interest that can accelerate moves but also raise short‑term volatility. AST SpaceMobile Shares On A Tear Following Yesterday’s Key Trading Signal
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — B. Riley recently cut ASTS to Neutral, tempering near‑term analyst enthusiasm and signaling caution among some institutional investors. AST SpaceMobile Wins Missile Defense Contract Days After Analyst Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/investor scrutiny and valuation risk — A Pomerantz investor investigation and bearish write‑ups (Seeking Alpha/Sohu) plus elevated short interest and analyst price‑target dispersion increase downside risk and the chance of volatile pullbacks. INVESTOR ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of AST SpaceMobile, Inc. – ASTS

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered AST SpaceMobile from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Scotiabank downgraded AST SpaceMobile from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector underperform” rating and set a $45.60 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of AST SpaceMobile from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $45.66.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $42.49 billion, a PE ratio of -93.36 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 9.56 and a quick ratio of 9.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.22 and a 200 day moving average of $62.51.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by ($0.27). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 1,639.59% and a negative return on equity of 27.76%. The business had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.10) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1236.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.76, for a total transaction of $442,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 122,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,034,567.36. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.52, for a total transaction of $2,940,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. 30.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 11.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,642 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,515 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 467,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,634,000 after purchasing an additional 64,989 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 325,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after buying an additional 49,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the first quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.