AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) jumped 5% after four of Europe’s largest telecom carriers announced plans to explore a joint bid for satellite spectrum across the continent.
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY), Orange (ORANY), Telefónica (TEF), and Vodafone (VOD) signed a Letter of Intent to pursue Mobile Satellite Services spectrum in Europe together.
AST already counts all four carriers as partners and is actively testing its BlueBird satellite network with each of them individually.
The company’s European joint venture, Satellite Connect Europe, is constructing the ground infrastructure that connects AST’s BlueBird satellites to each carrier’s core network.
AST estimates the combined addressable market at more than 500 million mobile subscribers across the European continent.
Despite the strong existing relationships, the carriers’ own statement describes the arrangement as a bid with “a satellite partner still to be selected,” leaving the door open to competitors.
Deutsche Telekom separately plans to deploy Starlink from SpaceX (SPCX) in Germany beginning around 2028, underscoring that AST’s position is not yet locked in.
The European Commission’s planning timeline points to the spectrum being formally assigned in 2029, meaning any partnership deal must survive several more years of uncertainty.
Analysts project AST’s revenue will climb sharply from $70.9 million in fiscal 2025 to $1.73 billion in fiscal 2028, though that estimate window closes before the European spectrum award.
Reaching that 2029 milestone will be expensive, with free cash flow hitting negative $1.14 billion in fiscal 2025 and analysts expecting roughly $3.2 billion in additional cash burn before spectrum is assigned.
AST reported pro forma liquidity of more than $3.7 billion following its latest convertible notes offering, giving the company enough runway to reach that milestone with limited margin for error.
The stock has shed more than half its value since May, pulling its forward price-to-sales multiple down to around 42x from a three-year average of 74x and an October 2025 peak of 205x.
That valuation still represents a significant premium for revenue AST has not yet generated, though the European spectrum bid adds a new and potentially transformative growth catalyst.
The immediate focus for investors will be whether the four carriers formally name AST as their preferred satellite partner, a decision that could significantly re-rate the stock.
