AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) shares were down about 6% on Wednesday as the stock slid with weakness across Communication Services and several satellite and communications names, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX), which fell nearly 3%.
On Tuesday, ASTS got explicit backing from the U.S. and Japanese governments tied to its Rakuten satellite partnership, but the stock was still well below a longer-term technical level highlighted in that report.
A joint U.S.-Japan statement referenced ASTS' cooperation with Japan's Rakuten Group on Monday. The governments released the statement after White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios met Japan's Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy Toshiharu Furukawa in Kyoto on Sunday.
SpaceX Financing Report Pressures Space Stocks
SpaceX stock traded lower Wednesday after a Financial Times report said that the company plans to raise about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt, which is debt issued by borrowers with strong credit ratings.
The money would fund a chip order from NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA). Apollo Global Management is expected to lead the deal, which is expected to close in 2027.
Over the past year, AST SpaceMobile is down 20.7%, the weakest of the group. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is up 558.8% over that span.
Technical Analysis
From a trend perspective, ASTS is still trading below its key moving averages, which keeps rallies vulnerable to selling pressure. The stock is about 1.6% below its 20-day SMA ($60.15) and about 5.9% below its 50-day SMA ($62.89), while it remains much farther below the longer-term 100-day ($73.10) and 200-day ($81.02) averages.
Momentum is best framed by RSI, with the indicator at 48.08, neutral and consistent with a market that's chopping rather than trending hard in either direction.
The bigger longer-term technical overhang is the death cross that occurred in July (the 50-day SMA falling below the 200-day SMA), which often acts as a headwind until price can reclaim those longer averages.
- Key Resistance: $65.50
- Key Support: $57.50
ASTS Price Action: AST SpaceMobile shares were down 6.15% at $59.24 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to market data.
