MIDLAND, Texas, May 14, 2026, 15:02 CDT
- Shares in AST SpaceMobile jumped close to 12% following an announcement from the top three U.S. carriers detailing plans for a satellite-powered direct-to-device initiative.
- The company is positioning itself as a “key enabler” for carriers looking to extend standard phone service outside traditional cell-tower coverage.
- Losses are still stacking up. The real challenge, though, is pinning down when the service launches and figuring out the economics of satellite-to-phone connections.
Shares of AST SpaceMobile surged Thursday, after AT&T, T-Mobile US, and Verizon announced a preliminary agreement to create a joint venture. The plan: tap satellites to plug coverage gaps in U.S. wireless networks.
Shares climbed 11.8% to $83.66 in afternoon action, putting the company’s market cap near $24.3 billion. Earlier, the stock reached as high as $84.46.
This move carries weight as top U.S. mobile carriers look to set the terms for direct-to-device satellite connections—basically, linking satellites to regular handsets when coverage from cell towers drops out—before any single player controls the gateway. AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have pitched the joint venture as a way to combine scarce spectrum, hammer out shared technical standards, and broaden satellite access for customers. The plan, though, still needs final agreements and standard closing steps.
AST SpaceMobile, a current partner of AT&T and Verizon, threw its support behind the proposal. CEO Abel Avellan called the company a “key enabler” for the industry’s rollout of space-based cellular broadband to U.S. consumers. Business Wire
Carriers have a clear incentive to coordinate, Roger Entner of Recon Analytics pointed out. Direct-to-device service isn’t seamless yet—there are still issues with handoffs to terrestrial networks, spectrum alignment, and verifying users, Entner wrote. A common spec could unlock a wider satellite market, moving things beyond tailor-made agreements for each carrier.
AT&T chief John Stankey talked up a push to “make staying connected simple.” T-Mobile’s Srini Gopalan emphasized “reliable connectivity.” Over at Verizon, Dan Schulman called it “resilient digital infrastructure.” All three bosses hammered the point: customers stick with their carriers, but the backend now opens up to more satellite providers. ATT Newsroom
Competition here is real. T-Mobile teamed up with SpaceX’s Starlink, while Verizon is going direct-to-device via Skylo. Both AT&T and Verizon have links with AST SpaceMobile. Then there’s Amazon, pushing into the mix with its Leo satellite venture and a Globalstar partnership—one more heavyweight to contend with.
SpaceX casts a long shadow in the prediction markets. On Kalshi, traders were giving 71% odds that a SpaceX IPO announcement drops before July 1, and the probability jumps to 87% before Aug. 1. Over on Polymarket, the crowd had SpaceX at 87% to claim the title of 2026’s biggest IPO by market cap. Those wagers don’t dictate telecom strategy, but they underline why established players might want to agree on a roadmap before Starlink calls the shots.
AST SpaceMobile is racing to show it can ramp up ahead of tougher market conditions. On May 11, the company reported BlueBird 8, 9 and 10 were still set for a Falcon 9 launch around mid-June. BlueBird 11 through 33 are already deep in production, and management says its 2026 goal—roughly 45 BlueBird satellites in orbit—remains unchanged.
The company reported hitting 98.9 Mbps peak data speeds from its in-orbit Block 1 BlueBird satellite to an unmodified smartphone. It now holds U.S. FCC clearance for commercial SpaceMobile operations across a network that could expand to as many as 248 satellites. For 2026, management projected revenue between $150 million and $200 million, citing most of that figure coming from mobile network partners and contracts with the U.S. government.
Risks are still significant. AST SpaceMobile turned in first-quarter revenue of $14.7 million, with a net loss to common stockholders hitting $191.0 million, or 66 cents per share. Operating expenses increased as the company ramped up spending on engineering and manufacturing. By the end of March, AST said it held about $3.46 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash—enough to support its current plan for the next 12 months.
Analysts Ric Prentiss and Frank Louthan of Raymond James questioned whether carriers really had a firm grip on direct-to-device, pointing out that “demand and economics” for these services are still up in the air. LightShed’s Walter Piecyk and Joe Galone were more blunt: this “agreement in principle” felt as much about the timing of the announcement as the substance of the deal. Investors.com
Thursday’s surge in AST SpaceMobile isn’t really a verdict—it’s more of a test. The company’s carrier project could open up satellite-to-phone services to a wider market. But AST still needs to get its satellites up, convert partnerships into actual revenue, and prove that its space-based broadband can turn a profit down here.
