Stock Market Today, June 12: AST SpaceMobile Drops on Space Stock Shakeout After SpaceX Debut

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS), provider of a space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by smartphones, closed Friday at $82.41, down 15.53%. Shares fell during the regular session as a “space-stock shakeout,” and profit-taking after strong recent gains met lingering concerns about new competition in the public market. Investors are also watching next week’s BlueBird 8–10 Falcon 9 launch and execution on its new FCC license.Trading volume reached 54.3 million shares, about 172% above its three-month average of 20 million shares. AST SpaceMobile IPO'd in 2019 and has grown 744% since going public.The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) rose 0.50% to 7,431.46, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) added 0.31% to finish at 25,889. Among communication equipment peers, Iridium Communications (NASDAQ:IRDM) closed at $47.32 (-5.19%) and Globalstar (NASDAQ:GSAT) ended at $81.16 (+0.06%) as investors reassessed satellite-connectivity valuations. The biggest news in the space sector was the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) (NASDAQ:SPCX) IPO, which soared nearly 20% to $161.11.Today’s SpaceX IPO created what some commentators described as a “space-stock shakeout” among names in the sector. AST SpaceMobile may be one of the most exposed to competition from SpaceX, though. That company’s Starlink business has an in-house platform for launching its satellites and potentially offering direct-to-smartphone internet service.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool