NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 13:57 ET — Regular session
- AST SpaceMobile shares edged lower in midday trade as investors weighed an insider purchase disclosure and a partner update.
- A director reported a small open-market buy under a pre-arranged trading plan, an SEC filing showed.
- AT&T said it is expanding ground infrastructure and aiming for beta satellite service in 2026.
AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS) shares were down 0.8% at $74.05 in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, after swinging between $72.53 and $75.73. The Nasdaq-tracking Invesco QQQ was off about 0.2%.
The pullback matters because AST’s valuation has become tightly linked to a handful of near-term execution checkpoints: satellite launches, ground network buildout and carrier readiness. Those milestones can move the stock even when the broader market is quiet.
The company is trying to deliver “direct-to-device” connectivity — linking satellites to standard smartphones without specialized equipment — and investors are watching for signs that the system can scale from tests to repeatable service. In that phase, incremental disclosures and partner commentary can carry outsized weight.
A Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed director Keith Larson bought 625 shares of AST SpaceMobile at $80 on Dec. 24. The filing said the shares were held indirectly through an IRA, leaving him with 2,015 shares after the transaction.
Form 4 filings are required disclosures of trades by corporate insiders such as executives and directors. The document also noted the purchase was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, a pre-arranged trading program that can be used to schedule trades in advance.
AT&T provided fresh context on the rollout in a Dec. 29 blog post by Robert Walters, an AT&T senior vice president, writing that the BlueBird 6 launch was “bringing us one step closer to making broadband satellite connectivity available to our customers.” Walters added that AST “announced they’re on track to complete four more launches by March 2026,” and said AT&T has brought its fourth “ground gateway” online — ground stations that link satellite traffic into AT&T’s terrestrial network — as it plans beta satellite service for select AT&T customers and FirstNet public-safety users in the first half of 2026. ATT Newsroom
AST said last week its next-generation BlueBird 6 satellite reached orbit after lifting off from India on Dec. 23, and described it as the largest commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit. The company also said the launch keeps it on track for a broader constellation buildout, including a goal of launching 45–60 satellites by the end of 2026 with launches planned every one or two months on average.
For traders, the near-term debate is less about quarterly metrics and more about cadence: whether launch frequency and network integration match the timelines being sketched by AST and partners. The risk, investors say, is that slippage in launch scheduling or ground readiness can quickly reset expectations.
Wednesday’s move also comes during year-end trading, when liquidity can thin and momentum names can swing on relatively small headlines. AST’s intraday range underscored that sensitivity.
Investors are watching for any follow-on disclosures on additional satellites, ground gateway expansion and carrier test results, along with any new regulatory or financing updates that could affect the pace of deployment.
In the meantime, the stock’s day range — roughly $72.50 to $75.70 — is where traders are taking cues on whether the post-launch rally is consolidating or fading, with broader tech indexes offering little direction.
