AST SpaceMobile Falls Despite Successful Satellite Launch

AST SpaceMobile Inc (NASDAQ:ASTS) stock is down 5.3% at $81.18 at last glance, the Starlink rival brushing off the successful launch of BlueBird 6. The satellite, AST's largest ever launched, puts the Starlink rival much closer to offering space-based mobile connectivity.

Despite today's tumble, ASTS sports a 299% year-to-date lead. The stock traded as high as $92.95 out of the gate, but is now back below $90. There's contrarian potential to help the shares make another run at their Oct. 16 record high of $102.79.

For starters, analysts lean pessimistic, with seven of the 11 in question sporting a tepid "hold" rating, while the 12-month consensus target price of $73.23 is a 10.5% discount to current levels. Shorts are also in control, with the 36.62 million shares sold short accounting for 16.3% of the equity's available float.

Drilling down to today's options activity, 75,000 calls and 40,000 puts have exchanged hands so far, which is six times the volume typically seen at this point. The most active contract the weekly 12/26 95-strike call.