Roth Capital Expects Weaker Earnings for AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) – Equities researchers at Roth Capital lowered their FY2028 earnings per share estimates for AST SpaceMobile in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 14th. Roth Capital analyst S. Searle now anticipates that the company will earn $0.74 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $0.75. Roth Capital has a “Buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for AST SpaceMobile’s current full-year earnings is ($0.40) per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for AST SpaceMobile’s FY2029 earnings at $1.84 EPS.

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $0.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.85 million.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.40.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASTS opened at $26.66 on Thursday. AST SpaceMobile has a twelve month low of $4.00 and a twelve month high of $39.08. The firm has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of -12.58 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 5.80 and a current ratio of 5.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.39 and a 200-day moving average of $24.51.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AST SpaceMobile

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 235.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 247,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,479,000 after buying an additional 174,007 shares during the last quarter. Key Colony Management LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 44.1% during the fourth quarter. Key Colony Management LLC now owns 196,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,136,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the fourth quarter worth about $374,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in AST SpaceMobile by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC now owns 39,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 2,602 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AST SpaceMobile

In related news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total value of $614,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 52,628 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,258.44. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 34.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.