AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Stock Price Down 4.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares fell 4.1% to $70.89 intraday on Friday with about 13.3 million shares traded (≈14% below the average), and analysts' consensus rating is Reduce with an average price target of $82.51.
• The company missed EPS—reported ($0.26) vs. ($0.18) expected—but revenue surged to $54.31 million (up 2,731% YoY) and topped estimates.
• Major insider selling: Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1.69 million shares at an average $91.42 (~$154.5M), and insiders have sold 3.08 million shares (~$274.5M) in the past 90 days, while insiders still own 30.9% of the stock.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) shares were down 4.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $70.61 and last traded at $70.89. Approximately 13,296,386 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 15,396,089 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ASTS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $43.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector underperform" rating and set a $45.60 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $82.51.

AST SpaceMobile Trading Down 4.1%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $86.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.49. The company has a current ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -53.70 and a beta of 2.81.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.08). AST SpaceMobile had a negative return on equity of 23.02% and a negative net margin of 482.16%.The company had revenue of $54.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.53 million. AST SpaceMobile's quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.42, for a total value of $154,499,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 29,330,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,681,362,770.10. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at $422,180. This trade represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,080,000 shares of company stock worth $274,452,000 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 30.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the last quarter. Vodafone Ventures Ltd bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 boosted 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 boosted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 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.

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