Shares in AST Spacemobile tank after Q1 numbers underwhelm

(Sharecast News) - Shares in AST SpaceMobile fell sharply on Tuesday, after first-quarter numbers missed Wall Street expectations.

Revenues at the Texas-based firm, which designs and makes satellites, rocketed to $14.7m in the three months to 31 March, up from $718,000 a year previously. However, that was notably below analyst forecasts for revenues closer to $39m, while losses per share widened to $0.66 from $0.20. Wall Street had expected more modest losses, of $0.23 per share.

AST SpaceMobile remained confident and reiterated full-year guidance for revenues of between $150m and $200m, "primarily driven by mobile network partners and the US government".

However, that did not prevent the stock falling sharply and by 1330 BST the shares had shed 11% in pre-market trading.

Co-founder and chief executive Abel Avellan said: "AST SpaceMobile is accelerating manufacturing, regulatory progress, commercial partnerships and government programmes, furthering our position as the only technology positioned to capture the massive direct to device broadband opportunity in full.

"Our network deployment for 2026 is targeting approximately 45 satellites in orbit. We have a robust global spectrum portfolio, the industry's largest global commercial ecosystem and a fortress balance sheet, positioning us for success as we create the space-based cellular broadband market."

Founded in 2017, AST SpaceMobile is building a network which smartphones will be able to access directly.