AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $27.16, but opened at $25.90. AST SpaceMobile shares last traded at $26.82, with a volume of 4,728,634 shares.

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 analyst estimates of $3.85 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ASTS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Oppenheimer started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $47.90 to $45.40 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Capital started coverage on AST SpaceMobile in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on AST SpaceMobile from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AST SpaceMobile news, Director Julio A. Torres sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.73, for a total transaction of $614,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 52,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,617,258.44. The trade was a 27.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 34.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in AST SpaceMobile by 388.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in AST SpaceMobile during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AST SpaceMobile in the first quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of AST SpaceMobile by 72.4% in the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.95% of the company’s stock.

AST SpaceMobile Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 5.80 and a quick ratio of 5.80. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.38 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.51.

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.