AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Stock Rises 14% as Rakuten Joint Venture Overshadows Revenue Miss
Key Takeaways
- •AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten, partners since 2020, formed a joint venture called Rakuten AST, which Rakuten will control to provide satellite-based cellular coverage in poorly served parts of Japan.
- •The stock closed 14.1% higher at $36.89, outpacing the S&P 500's 2.3% and Nasdaq Composite's 2.7% gains, and its market capitalization now stands near $11.06 billion.
- •Third-quarter revenue of $42.3 million nearly tripled from a year earlier but fell short of the $45.7 million Wall Street expected, while the net loss narrowed to $132 million, or $0.44 per share, beating forecasts.
- •The company reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance of $150 million to $200 million and ended the quarter with about $3.2 billion in cash as it funds satellite production and launches.
- •Roughly 35% of ASTS's float is sold short, about ten times the level of a typical stock according to FactSet, a positioning that can magnify price swings in both directions.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) closed at $36.89 on Monday, up $4.56, or 14.1%, as news of a new joint venture with Rakuten to bring satellite-based cell service to Japan overshadowed a third-quarter revenue miss. The company held its full-year revenue forecast of $150 million to $200 million.
AST SpaceMobile is developing the BlueBird satellite constellation, designed to deliver cellular broadband from space directly to standard, unmodified mobile phones. Direct-to-cell service from orbit is also becoming a competitive field: SpaceX's Starlink has partnered with T-Mobile to offer satellite-to-phone connectivity in the U.S., while Apple provides emergency satellite messaging on recent iPhones through Globalstar. The stock traded between $32.26 and $38.20 during Monday's session, and its market capitalization now sits near $11.06 billion. The broader market was also strong, with the S&P 500 up 2.3% and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 2.7% — the gain outpaced both benchmarks by a wide margin.
Rakuten AST: A New Japanese Joint Venture
The spark was the new deal in Japan. AST SpaceMobile and Rakuten, one of Japan's largest technology and telecommunications groups, have been partners since 2020 and agreed to form a joint venture called Rakuten AST. Rakuten will control the venture and use AST's satellites to bring cell service to parts of Japan with weak coverage. The network is also meant to keep people connected during a disaster — a capability that carries particular weight in a country where earthquakes and typhoons periodically disrupt ground-based networks.
Rakuten AST can receive up to about $1 billion in Japanese government funding. The potential support was not new information: the company won the bid for it back in June.
Wall St Engine summarized the quarterly results and announcements in an X post:
AST SPACEMOBILE $ASTS Q3'26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS
🔹 Revenue: $42.3M (Est. $46.6M) 🔴
🔹 EPS: -$0.44 (Est. -$0.40) 🔴
🔹 Cash & Liquidity: ~$3.2B
Affirms FY26 Guide:
🔹 Revenue: $150M-$200M (Est. $167M) 🟡
Announcements:
🔹 Blacklift: 20-ton reusable rocket; launches starting… pic.twitter.com/Vx71M7Xdln— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) November 9, 2026
A Lift From the Space Sector
Space stocks broadly got a lift from NASA, which announced awards to SpaceX, Voyager Technologies, Firefly Aerospace, Blue Origin and other companies. Voyager Technologies rose about 16% and Firefly Aerospace about 17% on the news. AST was not named in those awards, but it still caught a ride on the rally.
What the Quarter Showed
After the U.S. market close on Monday, AST reported third-quarter revenue of $42.3 million, nearly triple the year-earlier figure but short of the $45.7 million Wall Street expected. The net loss was $132 million, or $0.44 per share, narrower than the $143 million loss analysts had forecast.
AST SpaceMobile reaffirmed its full-year revenue guidance of $150 million to $200 million and ended the quarter with about $3.2 billion in cash — a cushion as it funds satellite production and launches.
Buildout Plans and a Homegrown Rocket
The company still expects to offer intermittent coverage in the U.S. and other markets by the end of the year, and it projects 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by mid-2027. AST expects to build six satellites per month by December and has launch partners lined up for 100 satellites.
Last week, the company said it would build its own rocket, Backlift, with engines from Firefly. Backlift is expected to be operational by late 2028. Taken together, those targets give observers a concrete checklist for measuring the company's execution in the years ahead.
Elevated Short Interest
Short sellers are watching the name closely: about 35% of ASTS's float is sold short, roughly 10 times the level of a typical stock, according to FactSet. Positioning that heavy can magnify price swings in both directions, since closing out short positions requires buying shares on the open market. The stock remains down about 70% from its May peak above $130. In after-hours trading following the results, ASTS slipped 1.3% to $36.43.
This article originally appeared on CoinCentral.
