NEW YORK, May 24, 2026, 15:06 EDT
- AST SpaceMobile ended Friday at $105.86, rising 10.01% on the day. For the week, shares gained roughly 26.5% from the May 15 close.
- Nasdaq said U.S. stock markets will be closed Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day. Trading starts back up on Tuesday.
- AST SpaceMobile is looking to launch BlueBird 8, BlueBird 9 and BlueBird 10 in mid-June aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, the company said.
AST SpaceMobile gained Friday, finishing the week higher as buyers moved into public space stocks ahead of the U.S. market holiday.
ASTS finished Friday at $105.86, jumping 10.01% on higher volume. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.19%, with the S&P 500 up 0.37%. ASTS outperformed both indexes for the week.
U.S. stocks are closed on Sundays. Nasdaq won’t open at all Monday because of Memorial Day. Regular hours for U.S. equities are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.
Space stocks kept up their gains on Friday. AST SpaceMobile and Virgin Galactic rose over 9%. Rocket Lab and Firefly Aerospace were up about 7%. The Wall Street Journal said renewed speculation about a possible SpaceX IPO is pushing sector shares higher.
SpaceX is targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation for its IPO, Reuters reported. The listing could bring in more than $75 billion. Investors would get a shot at a major offering focused on satellites, launch services, and space communications. The IPO would see SpaceX shares sold to the public for the first time.
Space ETFs took in $1.3 billion in fresh inflows this month, Reuters said on Friday, sending total assets in these funds to $3.3 billion. Morningstar ETF analyst Bryan Armour told Reuters that these spikes show up when “new and shiny” funds hit the market. Space ETFs hold a mix of securities and trade like stocks on exchanges. Reuters
AST shares are higher, even as the space sector remains crowded. Reuters reported ETF managers noted gains in Rocket Lab and AST SpaceMobile during the past year. Andrew Chanin, CEO of Procure, told Reuters some investors have started to consider space investable, saying, “space may not be too far out into the future to be investable.” Reuters
AST says it’s on schedule. The company plans to launch BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 in mid-June. Work on BlueBird 11 through 33 is in progress.
AST CEO Abel Avellan said the company is “accelerating manufacturing, regulatory progress, commercial partnerships, and government programs.” He says the company expects to deploy about 45 BlueBird satellites by 2026. Business Wire
AST wants to connect regular smartphones to satellites, no special gear needed. According to its latest 10-Q, the company says its BlueBird satellites are supposed to deliver broadband to unmodified phones. AST aims to sell the service wholesale to wireless carriers.
AST is still early when it comes to financials. The company posted Q1 revenue of $14.7 million and kept its full-year 2026 revenue forecast at $150 million to $200 million. AST closed out March 31 with around $3.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash.
AST shares flagged as higher risk after the company posted a first-quarter net loss to common stockholders of $191.0 million, according to its 10-Q. The same filing reported the Block 2 BB7 satellite did not reach its intended orbit and was de-orbited, with an expected carrying value loss between $155 million and $160 million, not factoring in any possible insurance recovery.
Market risk is drawing attention. With a lot of cash moving into space stocks, funds begin to overlap. Todd Sohn, ETF strategist at Strategas, told Reuters, “everybody is thinking the same way,” adding that the limited number of pure space names makes it tough for funds to be different. Reuters
Story divides this week. On Tuesday, market will watch if the SpaceX trade attracts buyers after the break. AST has to focus on execution—launches, partners, getting revenue moving—instead of relying on sector buzz.
