ASTS Pushes 45-Satellite Deployment to Early 2027; Piper Sandler Cuts to Neutral
ASTS is trading near its 52-week low of $39.87 (9.9% above the low) on elevated volume (1.8× avg).
Summary
AST SpaceMobile pushed its 45-satellite deployment from end-2026 to early 2027, blaming limited launch availability and ongoing talks to lock in enough launch services. Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral and slashed its price target to $54 from $98, flagging the 2026-2027 launch schedule, launch capacity and competitive risk. The delay directly undercuts the timeline management laid out with Q2 results on August 10, when it said it was fully funded to launch 90 satellites and had a $1.30B backlog. The $1B convertible note referenced is the July offering that already closed upsized at $1.15B, so it is not new capital.
At the time of this announcement, ASTS was trading at $43.82 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $17.3B. The 52-week trading range was $39.87 to $133.86. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Wiseek News.