AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $101.25, but opened at $107.26. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $113.7780, with a volume of 15,247,455 shares traded.

AST SpaceMobile News Roundup

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $42.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -93.36 and a beta of 2.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $73.22 and a 200-day moving average of $62.63. The company has a current ratio of 9.56, a quick ratio of 9.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.10) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1236.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AST SpaceMobile, Inc. will post -0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AST SpaceMobile

In other news, CAO Maya Bernal sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were 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 owned 122,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,034,567.36. The trade was a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Shanti B. Gupta sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $773,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,572,882.50. This trade represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 2,765 shares of company stock valued at $187,236 and have sold 2,354,621 shares valued at $164,348,075. Insiders own 30.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AST SpaceMobile

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTS. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its position in AST SpaceMobile by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 3.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

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.