Why AST SpaceMobile Stock Popped Today

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 13.12%) stock was trading up by 12.1% as of 11:04 a.m. ET on Wednesday after British bank Barclays raised its price target on the direct-to-cell (DTC) satellite communications company by 62% to $60 per share. Image source: Getty Images. Why Barclays loves AST SpaceMobile stock Barclays analyst Mathieu Robilliard points out that SpaceX and T-Mobile have already launched a text-only DTC service costing subscribers $10 per month. That gives them an advantage over AST, which has not yet begun offering its service commercially. Still, AST's competing service may be more attractive to many because it "will be richer with text, call, and broadband," and so could command higher prices, he argues in a note that was covered on TheFly.com. Is AST stock a buy? Before AST can begin charging for DTC service, though, it must start offering service. It can't yet, but with five satellites in orbit and more on the way, AST says it's making progress. In a tweet last night, the company confirmed it has completed assembly of its BigBird 6 DTC satellite and will ship BigBird 7 to its launch partner later this month. Nine more satellites "are in various stages of production, with launches planned every 1-2 months on average during 2025 and 2026," the company said. It could have a total of 40 satellites in orbit early next year, and up to 60 by the end of 2026. BlueBird 6 has completed final assembly and testing and is ready for flight! 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 On October 12, it will head to India aboard an Antonov large cargo plane ✈️We are officially kicking off our next-gen launch campaign:• BlueBird 7 is expected to ship to the Cape... pic.twitter.com/wUPzoGyLup -- AST SpaceMobile (@AST_SpaceMobile) September 30, 2025 AST has laid out its roadmap. Now, it just needs to deliver on its promises, get service started, get revenue coming in -- and make that revenue profitable. The consensus prediction among Wall Street analysts following the company, however, is that profits won't arrive before 2027. Until then, it'll be hard to say if AST SpaceMobile stock really deserves a buy rating.