ASTS stock surges 11% - here's what's fueling the drive

AST SpaceMobile shares jumped strongly on Friday, rising about 8% to $97.60 in morning trade after a positive analyst move. The rally came after Bank of America raised its price target on AST SpaceMobile, helping the stock recover after a sharp fall earlier in the week. Earlier, the stock had dropped after a downgrade from Scotiabank, which shook investor confidence and triggered selling.

The back-to-back analyst calls show how risky the “direct-to-cell” market is, where companies aim to connect normal smartphones directly to satellites without towers, Sherwood said. AST’s business is still very early, but investors have already pushed its value much higher, leaving little room for delays or mistakes.

Bank of America price target

Bank of America raised its price target to $100 from $85 and kept a Neutral rating, TipRanks reported. The bank pointed to growing interest in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite companies, based on a 2026 outlook note. LEO satellites orbit a few hundred miles above Earth, making them useful for mobile and broadband services.


Scotiabank analyst Andres Coello took the opposite view, cutting AST to Underperform from Sector Perform earlier this week, InvestorsObserver reported. Coello said the stock rally was not matching real progress, calling it disconnected from execution in a client note. With shares at $97.60, Coello said the stock had “once again overshot” to “irrational levels,” valuing the company at around $37 billion.

Coello warned AST has no “single retail customer” yet, raising concerns about real demand, according to The Motley Fool’s account of the note. He said AST needs about 50 satellites in orbit to offer continuous service by late 2026 or early 2027. Adoption in the U.S. and Japan has been “slow,” pricing is “modest,” and heavy spending could delay free cash flow until 2028 or 2029, Coello warned.

Valuation and competition

Valuation is now the biggest debate around the stock, Barron’s said. AST shares had surged 304% over the past 12 months before Wednesday’s selloff, Barron’s reported. The stock is trading at more than 100 times expected 2026 sales, based on analyst forecasts of about $270 million. Wall Street expects sales to grow about ten times from 2026 to 2029, but does not see positive operating profit until 2027.

The sharp price swings show how fast sentiment can change, especially if investors lose patience with the company’s timeline, analysts warned. Coello pointed to Starlink’s “brand and scale” as a “major competitive headwind,” InvestorsObserver reported. AST has launched only seven satellites since 2017, while Starlink is expected to launch 3,169 satellites in 2025 alone.

AST says it is building satellites that beam broadband directly to normal smartphones, with no special hardware needed. Yahoo Finance noted that AST’s midweek drop was steeper than the overall market move, showing how volatile the stock has become.

FAQs

Q1. Why did AST SpaceMobile stock jump today?

AST SpaceMobile stock rose after Bank of America raised its price target, boosting investor confidence.

Q2. Is AST SpaceMobile a risky stock to invest in?

Yes, analysts say the company is still early-stage, expensive, and faces strong competition from Starlink.