Rakuten Mobile Completes Major Share Sale, Reduces Stake to 5.3%
Summary
Rakuten Mobile, Inc. and its affiliates have completed their previously announced trading plan, selling an additional $392 million in AST SpaceMobile shares and reducing their beneficial ownership to 5.3%.
Key Events
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Trading Plan Completed
Rakuten Mobile, Inc. and its affiliates have completed their previously disclosed trading plan for AST SpaceMobile Class A Common Stock.
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Significant Share Sales
The filing details additional sales of 5,510,077 shares between April 27 and May 5, 2026, totaling approximately $392 million.
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Reduced Ownership Stake
Following these transactions, Rakuten Mobile, Hiroshi Mikitani, and Rakuten Group now beneficially own 15,510,078 shares, representing 5.3% of the Class A Common Stock outstanding.
Analysis
This Schedule 13D/A confirms the completion of Rakuten Mobile's trading plan, which involved significant sales of AST SpaceMobile Class A Common Stock. While the sales themselves represent a substantial reduction in a major institutional investor's stake, the completion of the plan removes the overhang of potential future sales from this specific program. Investors should note the continued divestment by a key early backer, but also that the selling pressure from this particular plan has now concluded.
At the time of this filing, ASTS was trading at $64.04 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $24.8B. The 52-week trading range was $22.47 to $129.89. This filing was assessed with neutral market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.