MW AST SpaceMobile's stock is on the rise as investors gear up for earnings from the SpaceX rival
By William Gavin
Investors are optimistic about new speed breakthroughs at the satellite company
AST SpaceMobile shares have more than tripled in a year.
Shares of AST SpaceMobile are rocketing higher on Monday as investors eagerly await the SpaceX rival to report first-quarter earnings.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and its stock have exploded in popularity over the last few years as investors have rallied around a bullish view of the company's future. The satellite company plans to offer what it calls the "first and only space-based cellular broadband network" for consumer and commercial applications.
AST SpaceMobile has made some progress on that front, inking deals with dozens of mobile network operators and successfully launching seven satellites to orbit.
The company said Monday that its older Block 1 BlueBird satellites are capable of providing a peak download speed of 98.9 megabits per second. It added that its next-generation satellites should nearly double that speed.
See more: The 'SpaceX mafia' is here. Elon Musk's big IPO could launch a constellation of new companies.
That announcement helped push AST SpaceMobile shares up 12% in trading on Monday afternoon. Over the last 12 months, the stock has more than tripled, despite the company still being far away from being profitable. That's led some to label the company a meme stock.
AST SpaceMobile is expected to report a loss per share of 24 cents for the first quarter of 2026, a steeper loss than the 20 cents per share it reported a year ago, according to FactSet. The company is projected to continue reporting a loss through the rest of the year.
Analysts also anticipate that AST SpaceMobile will report $39 million in sales, a massive improvement from less than $1 million in the year-ago quarter but less than the $54.3 million it posted in the prior quarter. Wall Street has forecast a net loss of almost $87 million, according to FactSet.
The company in March guided to full-year revenue of between $150 million and $200 million, up from almost $71 million in 2025.
Currently, AST SpaceMobile's revenue is driven by its work with the U.S. government and deliveries of its gateway ground stations. It aims to begin commercial services in the second half of this year.
Between 45 and 60 satellites will be needed to enable continuous satellite-internet coverage across its target markets, including the U.S. and Japan, according to the company.
To get there, AST SpaceMobile plans to launch several rockets this year and rely on Blue Origin, which expects to carry up to eight satellites to orbit at a time. Its latest mission failed after Blue Origin failed to send the BlueBird 7 satellite to the proper orbit.
Read more: Rocket Lab's stock rises upon new signs its business is expanding rapidly
Executing on its 2026 launch plans is crucial for AST SpaceMobile, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu, who said in a note last month that the company's stock performance will be based on whether the company can stick to its plans and launch commercial operations by the first half of 2027.
"Failure to accelerate the launch cadence during 2026 will sow doubt inthe minds of investors and raise concerns that ASTS' [mobile network operator] partners might not stick with the company," Yu wrote. He rates the stock at buy.
If the company can keep to its schedule, it could carve out a "healthy share" of the direct-to-device market, Yu said. But competition will likely be stiff.
SpaceX's Starlink has been offering satellite-internet services for years and has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit. Amazon (AMZN) is, like AST SpaceMobile, still developing its Leo business but recently announced a deal to acquire Globalstar $(GSAT)$, which would give it additional satellites and spectrum licenses.
See more: How the Globalstar purchase could turn Amazon's Leo into a satellite powerhouse
-William Gavin
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May 11, 2026 14:23 ET (18:23 GMT)
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