Why Is ASTS Stock Falling Today?

AST SpaceMobile Inc. (ASTS) shares tumbled nearly 14% in Monday’s pre-market session after SpaceX agreed to acquire spectrum from EchoStar Corp. (SATS) in a deal valued at $17 billion.

This comes after AST announced a spectrum deal worth $64.5 million in August, through the acquisition of an entity that owns certain S-Band priority rights to frequencies that can be used to offer mobile satellite services.

ASTS stock opened lower by 13% in Monday’s trade, but recouped some of the losses at the time of writing to hover 4% in the red, while SATS stock was up around 18%. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around ASTS trended in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory, while users were ‘bullish’ about SATS.

Earlier on Monday, EchoStar announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with SpaceX to sell its spectrum in a deal valued at $17 billion. The deal includes up to $8.5 billion in cash and $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock, with an additional $2 billion in debt interest support.

Boost Mobile, which currently operates under EchoStar’s 5G platform, will soon allow its users to access SpaceX’s next-generation Starlink Direct to Cell technology through a newly formed commercial partnership between the two companies.

AST Spacemobile’s spectrum transaction, on the other hand, is expected to close in the second half of 2025. The company is building a space-based cellular broadband network that will be accessible using smartphones. Both government and commercial applications will be allowed to leverage this network, the company said.

ASTS stock is up 92% year-to-date, while SATS stock is up 246%.

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