AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Upgraded to Hold at New Street Research

Key Points

• New Street Research upgraded AST SpaceMobile to a “hold”, adding to a mixed analyst picture that currently leans cautious. The stock’s consensus rating remains “Reduce,” with an average price target of $79.45.
• ASTS shares rose 11% and opened at $83.01, near its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company remains highly volatile, with a 1-year range of $22.47 to $129.89 and a beta of 2.60.
• Recent fundamentals were weak despite rapid revenue growth: the company posted a Q1 EPS loss of $0.66 versus expectations for a smaller loss, while revenue of $14.74 million missed estimates. Insider selling also remains notable, with insiders selling 3.095 million shares in the last quarter.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at New Street Research to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

ASTS has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of AST SpaceMobile from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $79.45.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Up 11.0%

ASTS stock opened at $83.01 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 18.47, a quick ratio of 16.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. AST SpaceMobile has a 1 year low of $22.47 and a 1 year high of $129.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.95. The firm has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a PE ratio of -46.63 and a beta of 2.60.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.43). AST SpaceMobile had a negative net margin of 573.67% and a negative return on equity of 24.87%. The business had revenue of $14.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1952.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AST SpaceMobile will post -1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, major shareholder Hiroshi Mikitani sold 1,690,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider owned 29,330,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,681,362,770.10. The trade was a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Huiwen Yao sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.88, for a total transaction of $3,555,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 4,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $422,180. This represents a 89.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 3,095,000 shares of company stock valued at $275,597,100 in the last quarter. Insiders own 20.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,568,292 shares during the period. Vodafone Ventures Ltd bought a new position in shares of AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth about $397,413,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,425,199 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,522,549 shares of the company's stock worth $328,749,000 after purchasing an additional 402,505 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,951,685 shares of the company's stock worth $287,011,000 after purchasing an additional 350,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company's stock.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile welcomed the announcement that AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are forming a satellite-to-phone joint venture to improve coverage in dead zones. Investors see this as validation of ASTS’s direct-to-device satellite connectivity market and a potential boost to future demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research launched coverage of the space economy and included AST SpaceMobile among the stocks it is tracking, which can draw more investor attention to the name and support trading interest. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts’ views remain mixed, but one new report says consensus has turned to “Reduce,” reflecting caution after ASTS’s recent earnings miss and ongoing execution concerns. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Director Julio A. Torres sold 15,000 shares at $76.34, a move that may be viewed as insider selling and could weigh on sentiment despite the remaining stake. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Post-earnings commentary continues to highlight a Q1 miss, darker consensus forecasts, and execution/competition risks, which reinforces concerns about AST SpaceMobile’s near-term fundamentals. Article Title

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.

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