AST SpaceMobile Stock Jumps On $30 Million Prime Contract

By Henry Khederian | February 23, 2026, 1:40 PM

AST SpaceMobile Inc (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares are trading higher Monday afternoon after the satellite-communications company announced it secured a roughly $30 million prime contract with the U.S. Space Development Agency for the Europa Track 2 Commercial Solutions program under the HALO low-Earth-orbit initiative. Here’s what investors need to know.

AST SpaceMobile Awarded Prime Contract

AST SpaceMobile said the deal is the first prime award supported by its wholly owned defense subsidiary, AST SpaceMobile USA, underscoring growing government demand for commercial space-based connectivity solutions.

Under the contract, the company will use its dual-use BlueBird satellite constellation to demonstrate resilient, low-latency satellite links that connect directly to government end devices in the field.

The space-based network relies on a software-defined "bent-pipe" architecture designed to move high-bandwidth data from low Earth orbit and integrate with existing tactical radios, potentially expanding AST SpaceMobile's addressable defense market.

Management said the award strengthens the company's role as a trusted partner to U.S. defense agencies and supports the Pentagon's push toward resilient, hybrid constellations such as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

AST SpaceMobile is building what it calls the first space-based cellular broadband network meant to work directly with standard mobile phones.

ASTS Stock Trades Below 20-Day SMA

Currently, the stock is trading 13.4% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) but is 7.5% above its 100-day SMA, indicating a mixed short-term trend while maintaining longer-term strength.

Over the past 12 months, shares have skyrocketed by 202.54%, and they are currently positioned closer to their 52-week highs than lows.

Price with Moving Averages Chart for ASTS - Chart ID price-ma-ASTS-1771870679340-fwvxyfniz

The RSI is at 40.42, which is considered neutral territory, suggesting that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold. Meanwhile, the MACD is at -3.6516, below its signal line at -0.3146, indicating bearish pressure on the stock.

RSI Heatmap Timeline Chart for ASTS - Chart ID rsi-hm-ASTS-1771870680741-lan9le0z5

The combination of neutral RSI and bearish MACD suggests mixed momentum, indicating that traders should remain cautious.

  • Key Resistance: $93.00
  • Key Support: $69.50

Earnings Report Next Week

The countdown is on: ASTS is set to report earnings on March 2.

  • EPS Estimate: Loss of 19 cents (Down from Loss of 18 cents)
  • Revenue Estimate: $41.21 million (Up from $1.92 million)

ASTS Analyst Ratings

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Hold Rating with an average price target of $59.83. Recent analyst moves include:

  • B. Riley Securities: Neutral (Lowers Target to $95.00) (Feb. 13)
  • B. Riley Securities: Downgraded to Neutral (Raises Target to $105.00) (Jan. 13)
  • Scotiabank: Downgraded to Sector Underperform (Target $45.60) (Jan. 7)

ASTS Shares Climb Monday Afternoon

ASTS Price Action: AST SpaceMobile shares were up 8.02% at $86.63 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image: Shutterstock

Mentioned In This Article

Latest News

2 hours
2 hours
2 hours
4 hours
6 hours
Feb-22
Feb-20
Feb-19
Feb-18
Feb-18
Feb-17
Feb-17
Feb-17
Feb-15
Feb-15