In the past six months, AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) stock has shot up 1,062%, making it a case study on the kinds of gains investors can reap from the fledgling space economy.
This is something I’ve been talking about for years, and I even have a special report on an up-and-coming space stock that’s rising to challenge SpaceX.
I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but first we’ll talk about ASTS, which has clearly achieved something spectacular.
To put it simply, ASTS aims to do the same thing Starlink does — provide internet coverage to furthest reaches of the globe through satellite constellations. Or rather, imagine never having your cellphone coverage drop off again.
That could soon be the case. Because ASTS isn’t just delivering internet access (like scores of other internet providers); it’s making it directly accessible to every smartphone on the planet.
So if you find yourself in a situation where your carrier doesn’t provide coverage, you’d simply be able to log into ASTS’s satellite network and purchase a temporary service plan.
Additionally, ASTS could enter into partnerships directly with wireless carriers to offer its service directly to their customers — the same way T-Mobile partnered with Starlink to offer free, unlimited space-based broadband service earlier this year. Join Wealth Daily today for FREE. We’ll keep you on top of all the hottest investment ideas before they
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It’s an extremely promising model, if the company can pull it off. To that point, ASTS has already scored strategic investments from AT&T, Verizon, and Google, among others.
But even with those investments, ASTS has had to rely on stock offerings to generate capital for this endeavor — which, by the way, isn’t cheap.
On August 14, ASTS said it had accrued roughly $347.5 million of gross capitalized property and equipment costs and absorbed $99.3 million of expenditure through depreciation and amortization.
Total operating expenses for the second quarter alone of 2024 were $64 million, up from $56 million in the first quarter. And the company reported a $72.6 million net loss, with just $900,000 in revenue.
However, what got the market’s attention was that ASTS also announced the completion and delivery of five commercial satellites to Cape Canaveral. Those are now expected to launch in September.
In fact, that makes them the largest commercial satellites to ever be deployed in low Earth orbit. And ASTS anticipates that its future satellite constellations will be even bigger — three times the size.
To that end, ASTS is working on 17 more satellites — the first of which is scheduled to go to space in early 2025
Another interesting point is that the satellites are being carried into orbit by a SpaceX rocket. That’s ironic considering that ASTS is now competing directly with Starlink.
However, future launches will be carried out by a competitor. The name of that competitor hasn’t been made public, but I’d be willing to bet it’s the company I mentioned earlier.
And honestly, I think that stock is an even better bet than ASTS, because it’s already generating significantly more revenue as a nimble, low-cost launch provider and space systems company.
It’s more than doubled in value since April.
In any case, both of these stocks show the profit opportunity that’s emerged in the space segment, which is projected to grow from $630 billion in 2023 to $1.8 trillion by 2035.
So keep an eye on ASTS stock, and check out my latest report on how to profit if you haven’t already.
Fight on, Jason Simpkins Simpkins is the founder and editor of Secret Stock Files, an investment service that focuses on companies with assets — tangible resources and products that can hold and appreciate in value. He covers mining companies, energy companies, defense contractors, dividend payers, commodities, staples, legacies and more… In 2023 he joined The Wealth Advisory team as a defense market analyst where he reviews and recommends new military and government opportunities that come across his radar, especially those that spin-off healthy, growing income streams. For more on Jason, check out his editor’s page. Be sure to visit our Angel Investment Research channel on YouTube and tune into Jason’s podcasts. Want to hear more from Jason? Sign up to receive emails directly from him ranging from market commentaries to opportunities that he has his eye on. 
