Does The Move In AST SpaceMobile Stock Change Anything? Trefis Team Wed, November 11, 2026 at 3:26 PM EST 3 min read ASTS +6.59% ^GSPC +1.30% GSAT -0.36% IRDM +2.55% VSAT +0.51% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) stock fell 59.2% between February 13 and November 10, 2026, while the S&P 500 returned 10.9% and satellite peers Globalstar, Iridium Communications and Viasat all gained. Over those months, the company borrowed through convertible notes in July, and on November 6 it said it would build its own rocket. So AST SpaceMobile now owes much more than a year earlier and plans to spend more, while its revenue targets have not changed.
How Much More AST SpaceMobile Owes And Will Spend
AST SpaceMobile's total debt was $4.12 billion on September 30, 2026, against $722 million a year earlier. Part of that rise is the $1.15 billion of convertible notes the company sold in July, money that management later said lets it pursue its own rocket, named Blacklift. Cash rose too, to $2.80 billion, so debt minus cash came to $1.32 billion. A year earlier, cash of $1.20 billion was more than the $722 million of debt.
The spending plans grew with the rocket. On the November 9 call, management said it expects several hundred million dollars of extra capital spending in 2027 for Blacklift. Nearer term, it expects capital spending of $400 million to $500 million in the fourth quarter of 2026, against about $310 million in the third. That spending came in below the company's own guidance for the quarter, mainly because the timing of launch payments shifted. Against that, the company secured $1 billion of Japanese government funding, through its joint venture with Rakuten, for manufacturing and launching satellites, and management expects most of the money during 2027.
How AST SpaceMobile's Spending Compares With Revenue
AST SpaceMobile's revenue is growing quickly from a small base. In the third quarter of 2026, revenue was $42.3 million, up 187.1% from a year earlier. Free cash flow, the cash left after operating costs and capital spending, was negative $483 million, compared with negative $331 million a year earlier.
Measured in dollars, the quarter's cash outflow grew by about $152 million while revenue grew by about $27.6 million. Over the twelve months to September, free cash flow was negative $1.89 billion, on revenue of $143 million.
AST SpaceMobile's Revenue Targets Have Not Moved
On the November 9 call, management kept its 2026 revenue range of $150 million to $200 million, and said recent contract signings could lift it. Revenue for the first nine months of 2026 was $88.5 million, so the low end needs at least $61.5 million in the fourth quarter, against $42.3 million in the third. At 70.8 times its sales over the past twelve months, compared with 3.2 times for the S&P 500, the stock's price appears to assume revenue far above today's.
Management also still sees revenue approaching $1 billion in the 12 months after commercial service begins, though it said it would give no other forward guidance on revenue. Management expects nationwide intermittent service in the United States before the end of 2026, with beta trials for users to follow in early 2027. It did not say whether that start is the commercial launch the $1 billion view counts from.
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