AST SpaceMobile shares fall 8.7% after Q3 revenue misses estimates

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) posted a wider loss than expected and revenue below estimates.

Shares fell 8.7% at 3:59 p.m. ET, from a $36.89 close.

Here's how the company did:

• Revenue: $42.32 million vs. $14.74 million a year earlier, $47.57 million expected
• Loss per share: 44 cents vs. 45 cents a year earlier, 41 cents expected
• Total operating expenses: $211.03 million vs. $94.42 million a year earlier

Revenue came from gateway deliveries and U.S. Government milestones that were met. The company also booked about $100 million in revenue from the U.S. Space Force for advanced space-based sensing.

The net loss attributable to common stockholders was $132.38 million, against $122.87 million a year earlier.

Guidance

The company kept its full-year 2026 revenue forecast of $150.0 million to $200.0 million. Its outlook includes upside from recent contract signatures.

Operating costs and charges

Total operating expenses, which included $77.4 million of depreciation and amortization and stock-based compensation expense, were down from $329.1 million in the second quarter, which included a $125.9 million loss on involuntary conversion.

Adjusted operating expenses rose $14.5 million to $133.6 million from $119.1 million in the second quarter.

Manufacturing and launches

Satellite production is moving to full-scale ASIC integration, beginning with BlueBird 34. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Abel Avellan said: "We expect to achieve a production rate of six ASIC satellites per month in December of this year."

Launch agreements now cover over 100 BlueBird satellites expected to be deployed between 2027 and 2028. The company is targeting about 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit by middle 2027.

Blacklift, a 20-ton rocket the company is building, is planned to begin launches in late 2028 and carry up to five BlueBird satellites per launch.

Funding and balance sheet

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled about $3.2 billion at Sept. 30. Long-term debt, net, was $4.08 billion, up from $2.21 billion at Dec. 31, 2025.

A Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications agreement, with partner Rakuten, features about $1.0 billion in non-dilutive funding for manufacturing and launch of satellites. The company also has a pipeline of about $1.2 billion in non-dilutive U.S. quasi-governmental financing for 2027.