Satellite broadband underdog performance “exploded”: AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US) losses increased dramatically, but the contract backlog reached 1.3 billion US dollars, and sufficient cash reserves still supported constellation expansion

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the space mobile broadband operator AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US) recently released financial results for the second quarter of 2026 (as of June 30). Revenue of US$31.5 million was achieved during the period, which was a significant increase over the same period last year, below the market average of US$34.98 million; however, the net loss attributable to common shareholders reached US$230.9 million, a significant increase from the loss of 99.4 million US dollars in the same period last year. AST SpaceMobile's quarterly loss per share reached 77 cents, far higher than Wall Street's expected loss of 28 cents per share, which fell short of market expectations.

Total operating expenses climbed to $329.1 million, including $125.9 million in involuntary conversion losses (mainly involving one-time items related to asset disposal or damage). The company is dedicated to developing space-based cellular broadband networks designed to be directly compatible with common standard smartphones (no need to modify the terminal).

By the end of the quarter, the company's cumulative contract revenue reserves (i.e. revenue backlog) from commercial partners and US government contracts had grown to approximately $1.3 billion. During the quarter, the company won a number of US government contracts with a total value of more than $125 million. Currently, AST SpaceMobile has signed cooperation agreements with more than 60 mobile network operators around the world, covering a total of more than 3 billion users.

The company is working with partners such as Vodafone, Orange, Telefónica, Vodafone Ukraine, and Deutsche Telekom to promote network integration and testing in many European countries, while expanding into the Canadian, Japanese and Saudi Arabian markets (all require local regulatory approval). In terms of constellation deployment, with the recent successful entry of the BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 satellites into orbit, the total number of spacecraft in orbit has reached 13; BlueBirds 14 to 16 are ready for shipment, and BlueBirds 17 to 46 are in various stages of production and assembly.

As of June 30, the company held a total of about US$2.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. In July, the company issued $1.15 billion convertible senior notes with a coupon interest rate of 1.625%, and the effective share conversion price was set at $149.20 per share.

The company reiterated its revenue forecast for the full year of FY2026 of US$150 million to US$200 million, and the guidance range remained unchanged.