AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Trading Up 4.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares rose 4.2% intraday, trading as high as $101.89 and last at $96.46 on ~11.33M shares (about 23% below the average daily volume).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—two Buys, six Holds and three Sells—with MarketBeat showing an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $63.77 after recent target cuts and revisions.
• Fundamentals are uneven: Q1 revenue beat at $54.31M (up 2,731% YoY) but the company remains unprofitable (EPS miss and a negative net margin of ~482%); CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares, and insiders still own about 30.9% of the stock.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 4.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $101.89 and last traded at $96.46. Approximately 11,330,964 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 14,751,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ASTS. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $63.77.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -73.08 and a beta of 2.81. The stock's 50 day moving average is $91.69 and its 200 day moving average is $81.26. The company has a current ratio of 16.35, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 482.16% and a negative return on equity of 23.02%. The company had revenue of $54.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.53 million. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2731.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total value of $3,555,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 4,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 30.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 113,696 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,258,000 after buying an additional 18,599 shares during the last quarter. Spear Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,313,000. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile in the 4th quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in AST SpaceMobile by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,939 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,210,000 after buying an additional 9,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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