$AST SpaceMobile (ASTS.US)$ shares were trading more than 16% lower just after 9:45 AM ET on Friday after the company reported financial results for the third quarter Thursday after the bell.
AST SpaceMobile reported third-quarter revenue of $1.1 million. The company reported an adjusted loss of $1.10 per share, missing analyst estimates for a loss of 20 cents per share, according to Benzinga Pro.
Operating expenses for the third quarter totaled $66.6 million, up $2.7 million from the second quarter. The company ended the period with $518.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash.
"We achieved many significant milestones in the quarter and continue our momentum with several key pieces now in place," said Abel Avellan, founder, chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile.
"With the first five BlueBird satellites successfully unfolded and entering initial operations, our business is progressing according to plan. We've advanced our strategy across multiple efforts including progress on securing orbital launch capacity, growing our manufacturing capability, and expanding our customer ecosystem."
AST SpaceMobile separately announced launch services agreements securing the orbital launch capacity to enable continuous space-based cellular broadband service coverage.
The company's global service will initially target key markets including the U.S., Europe, Japan and other strategic markets.
The company's next-gen Block 2 Bluebird satellites are expected to deliver up to 10 times the bandwidth capacity of the Bluebirds currently in orbit, and are designed to be compatible with all major launch vehicles.
"With these new launch services agreements, our in-house vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities in Texas, our mobile operator partners, and the additional capital raised during 2024, we are now well-positioned to reach our goal of continuous cellular broadband service coverage, enabling our service to hundreds of millions of users around the world and the U.S. government," said Scott Wisniewski, president of AST SpaceMobile.
