Today’s Change
Current Price
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 15.62%), provider of a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by smartphones, closed Friday at $82.41, down 15.53%. Shares fell during the regular session as a “space-stock shakeout,” and profit-taking after strong recent gains met lingering concerns about new competition in the public market. Investors are also watching next week’s BlueBird 8–10 Falcon 9 launch and execution on its new FCC license.
Trading volume reached 54.3 million shares, about 172% above its three-month average of 20 million shares. AST SpaceMobile IPO’d in 2019 and has grown 744% since going public.
How the markets moved today
The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.50%) rose 0.50% to 7,431.46, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC +0.31%) added 0.31% to finish at 25,889. Among communication equipment peers, Iridium Communications (IRDM 5.19%) closed at $47.32 (-5.19%) and Globalstar (GSAT +0.06%) ended at $81.16 (+0.06%) as investors reassessed satellite-connectivity valuations. The biggest news in the space sector was the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) (SPCX +19.17%) IPO, which soared nearly 20% to $161.11.
What this means for investors
Today’s SpaceX IPO created what some commentators described as a “space-stock shakeout” among names in the sector. AST SpaceMobile may be one of the most exposed to competition from SpaceX, though. That company’s Starlink business has an in-house platform for launching its satellites and potentially offering direct-to-smartphone internet service.
AST’s stock has also soared by about 125% over the last year, while the company still has a long road of capital spending and satellite deployment to attain profitability.
With a new disruptor like SpaceX in the public markets, investors may be taking profits in AST SpaceMobile and putting their money into SpaceX now.
Howard Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
