AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading 3.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Posted by Stanley Muller on May 18th, 2026

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report)’s stock price shot up 3.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $89.96 and last traded at $86.83. 23,904,647 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 47% from the average session volume of 16,293,793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ASTS shares. B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered AST SpaceMobile from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, New Street Research began coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $79.45.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ASTS

AST SpaceMobile Trading Up 3.8%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.65 and a 200-day moving average of $82.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.78 and a beta of 2.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 18.37 and a current ratio of 18.47.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $14.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -1.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total transaction of $154,499,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 29,330,155 shares in the company, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.34, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 43,239 shares in the company, valued at $3,300,865.26. The trade was a 25.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 3,095,000 shares of company stock valued at $275,597,100 in the last ninety days. 20.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AST SpaceMobile by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,488,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd acquired a new stake in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,661,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,749,000 after purchasing an additional 402,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,011,000 after purchasing an additional 350,690 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

About AST SpaceMobile

(Get Free Report)

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.