ASTS is up 61% already in 2026, with leftover contrarian potential to boot
AST SpaceMobile Inc (NASDAQ:ASTS) has proven to be a worthy competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink, and is one of the biggest success stories on Wall Street so far in 2026. At last glance, ASTS is up 16% at a record high of$117.45, after the satellite broadband name scored a prime contract position on the U.S. Missile Defense Agency SHIELD program, part of the Golden Dome project.
The shares are already 61.2% higher year to date, and yesterday swiftly took out its former record near $102. ASTS was trading around $20 only 12 months ago, but the company ended 2025 with a successful satellite launch.
An unwinding of pessimism has kept the wind at the equity's back for some time now. A healthy 16.7% of ASTS' total available float is sold short, while eight of the 12 analysts in coverage maintain "hold" or worse ratings. Even the news today prompted no action from brokerages, despite the stock's 12-month consensus price target of $77.25 a 34% discount to its current perch.
Options traders are out in droves today. At last look, over 133,000 calls have already changed hands, volume that's five times the average intraday amount, and almost double the number of puts traded. The January 2026 120-strike call expiring later today is the most popular, with positions being opened there.