AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Stock Surges On Spectrum Deal: What's Going On?

AST SpaceMobile Inc ASTS shares are trading higher and trending across social media platforms Friday after the company announced a Settlement Term Sheet with Ligado Networks, Viasat and Inmarsat that grants it long-term rights to a substantial block of wireless spectrum for its direct-to-smartphone satellite service.

What To Know: The agreement provides AST SpaceMobile with over 80 years of access to up to 45 MHz of lower mid-band spectrum across the United States and Canada. The company described it as the largest available block of high-quality nationwide spectrum for direct-to-device applications.

Crucially, the deal includes affirmative support from Inmarsat for AST SpaceMobile’s necessary regulatory applications with the FCC and its Canadian counterpart, ISED.

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This spectrum is key to the company's strategy. It will be paired with its planned low-band network to significantly boost data capacity, enabling AST SpaceMobile to pursue its goal of delivering peak data speeds up to 120 Mbps. The transaction, valued at approximately $550 million, is subject to court and regulatory approvals.

Price Action: Investors are reacting positively to Friday’s news. According to data from Benzinga Pro, shares are trading at $39.14, a gain of over 6% for the session. Trading volume was exceptionally heavy, with over 14.6 million shares changing hands before noon, easily surpassing the stock’s 100-day average volume of 10.77 million.

The stock also has a notable short interest of 22.34% of the float, a factor that can contribute to increased volatility on major news events.

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How To Buy ASTS Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for AST SpaceMobile – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of AST SpaceMobile, which is trading at $39.1 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 2.56 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, ASTS has a 52-week high of $41.13 and a 52-week low of $9.32.

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