Shares of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) climbed 0.4% overnight heading into Wednesday after AT&T CEO John Stankey publicly challenged SpaceX’s wireless strategy.
ASTS had fallen 3% to $59.40 on Tuesday but remains up 0.5% for the month, putting it on pace for its best monthly performance since May.
Stankey told Axios that SpaceX’s proposal to place small cellular base stations alongside Starlink dishes at homes and businesses was “not a viable strategy.”
He cited the cost of such installations as a core problem, saying, “It would cost as much to do that as it would to build a macro network to be able to handle those capabilities.”
Stankey also raised legal questions around transmitting cellular signals from private property without consent from property owners.
“You can’t radiate cellular signals from somebody’s house without their permission, unless somebody changes the law on that,” Stankey said.
The AT&T chief also defended fiber internet as a superior long-term investment, saying, “Satellite, at its best — if everything happens right over the next 10 years — is still not going to beat fiber.”
Those comments came alongside AT&T’s announcement of a multiyear deal worth more than $3 billion to purchase fiber and cable from Corning.
Stankey’s critique of SpaceX is notable because AT&T is one of AST SpaceMobile’s key U.S. partners, alongside Verizon, for its direct-to-phone satellite service.
AST’s BlueBird satellites are designed to connect directly to standard smartphones using carriers’ licensed cellular frequencies, requiring no rooftop dish or specialized handset.
On AT&T’s July earnings call, Stankey referenced “the AST offering” as part of plans to address coverage gaps heading into 2027, signaling continued institutional support for the technology.
In August, AST reported partnerships with more than 60 mobile network operators collectively covering over 3 billion subscribers globally.
The company reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance of $150 million to $200 million, following second-quarter revenue of $31.5 million and a contracted revenue backlog of approximately $1.3 billion.
Meanwhile, SpaceX continues expanding its Starlink constellation, with Starship Flight 14 recently reaching orbit and deploying 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites, each adding roughly one terabit per second of capacity.
Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster projected 2,200 annual SpaceX launches by 2030 and said the stock could more than double if that pace is achieved, calling the current moment just “scratching the surface.”
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for ASTS improved to “neutral” from “bearish” levels, alongside a 28% jump in 24-hour message volume.
One user posted, “$ASTS I wouldn’t honestly mind a buyout in the $100-120 range. I was worried a bit about the recent price action, but the recent Instagram ad by AT&T is a very bullish sign for me. Proves the point that big boys believe in the technology and there is honestly no alternative.”
Another speculated, “$ASTS Wait. What if SpaceX buys a 10% or 15% stake in ASTS knowing that their D2C tech is inferior to that of ASTS’s.”
Despite the overnight gains, ASTS stock remains down 18% year-to-date, leaving investors watching closely as beta service preparations continue through the remainder of the year.
