AST SpaceMobile published its second-quarter business update on Monday, 10 August 2026, after the market closed. We are writing about it today.
Errors or inaccuracies are possible. Spotted something that looks wrong? Write to me and I will correct it.
What the Company Does
AST SpaceMobile is building a cellular network in space that talks directly to an ordinary phone.
And that is what separates it from everything else: no special antenna, no dedicated handset, no app. The phone in your pocket connects to a satellite as though it were an ordinary cell tower. For that to work, the satellite needs an enormous phased array - which is why the company's spacecraft are the largest ever placed in low Earth orbit.
The business model is partnership, not competition: the company does not sell a subscription to a consumer. It plugs into existing mobile operators, who sell the service to their own customers as a coverage extension. More than 60 operators have signed, covering more than three billion subscribers between them.
Which makes this a company measured on only two things at this stage: how many satellites are in the sky, and how much spectrum it controls.
The Quarter
| The quarter | Last quarter | A year ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $31.5 million | $1.2 million | |
| Operating expenses | $329.1 million | $164.1 million | $74.0 million |
| of which: loss on involuntary conversion | $125.9 million | nil | nil |
| of which: depreciation and amortisation | $20.7 million | $17.6 million | $11.7 million |
| of which: stock-based compensation | $63.5 million | $55.4 million | |
| Adjusted operating expenses | $119.1 million | $91.2 million | $51.7 million |
| Net loss to common stockholders | $230.9 million | ||
| Loss per share | $0.77 | $0.41 |
Revenue rose from $1.2 million to $31.5 million, which the company attributes to gateway deliveries and US Government milestones met.
For the first half as a whole: net loss before allocation to non-controlling interests was $421.9 million, against $145.1 million a year ago, and loss per share was $1.43 against $0.62.
The $125.9 Million Item
Inside the quarter's operating expenses sits a line called "loss on involuntary conversion", at $125.9 million.
That item did not exist in the first quarter of 2026 or in the comparable quarter a year ago. It appeared in this quarter alone, and it explains more than three quarters of the increase in expenses over the previous quarter.
"Involuntary conversion" is an accounting term describing an asset that is disposed of against the owner's will - through loss, damage or seizure, for example - sometimes against insurance proceeds.
The release states the item and its amount, but does not describe what caused it. I am not going to guess or fill in the blank. What can be said with certainty: this is a one-off item of $125.9 million, the release does not explain it, and it is a legitimate question to ask on the investor call.
Stripping it out: adjusted operating expenses were $119.1 million, against $91.2 million in the previous quarter. So even without the one-off item, the spend rate rose roughly 30% in a single quarter.
What Did Advance, and It Is Not Little
The constellation: after the launch of BlueBirds 11, 12 and 13, the network now numbers 13 spacecraft in orbit - each the largest ever placed in low Earth orbit, with roughly 20,000 square feet of deployed aperture hardware between them.
What is in the pipeline: BlueBirds 14, 15 and 16 are being prepared to ship, and production continues through BlueBird 46. In addition, nearly 50 ground gateways are in various stages of completion.
Performance: Block 2 satellites are expected to deliver peak data rates approaching 200 Mbps, after nearly 100 Mbps was demonstrated on a Block 1 BlueBird. The company's proprietary ASIC provides up to 10 GHz of processing bandwidth per satellite, enabling a tenfold throughput improvement relative to Block 1.
Spectrum: a combined strategy of shared operator spectrum and controlled satellite spectrum, targeting roughly 100 MHz in the United States and more than 60 MHz in other markets, on a market-by-market basis.
Backlog: roughly $1.30 billion in aggregate contracted revenue with commercial partners and contract awards from the United States Government.
The Partnerships
In the United States: the company notes a planned joint venture by the top three US mobile operators, expected to enable space-based cellular broadband connectivity to every American.
In Europe and other markets: network integration and testing are under way with Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone Ukraine and Deutsche Telekom, as well as in Canada, Japan and Saudi Arabia, subject to final regulatory approvals.
And the next step: the company notes that it is preparing to initiate beta services with select strategic partners.
The Funding
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash: roughly $2.7 billion as of 30 June 2026.
And in July 2026, $1.150 billion of gross proceeds was raised in a 1.625% convertible senior notes offering, at an effective conversion price of $149.20 per share and effective dilution of less than 2%.
Total capital invested in property and equipment to date: roughly $2.3 billion gross, with accumulated depreciation and amortisation of $211.9 million. That includes satellite materials, advance launch payments, Block 1 and BlueWalker 3 satellites, assembly and test facilities and equipment, and ground antennas.
CEO Abel Avellan describes the balance sheet as "fortified":
"Our growing commercial and government programs, expansive spectrum portfolio, and fortified balance sheet provide us with the flexibility to capture opportunities across an expanding total addressable market"
The Market Reaction
The report was published after the close, so no regular session reflecting it has taken place yet.
The stock closed Monday at $68.76, against $71.94 on Friday - but that close preceded the report. The market's response will only be visible in Tuesday's session.
הזווית שלי
דעה אישית של אילן אברמוב - לא ייעוץ ולא המלצה
This is a company you cannot measure by its quarterly report, and that needs saying plainly.
Revenue of $31.5 million against expenses of $329 million is not a "result". It is a receipt for construction. Anyone trying to derive a multiple from those numbers is making a category error - this company is at the stage where it is measured in satellites, spectrum and contracts, not on the profit line.
And by those measures, the quarter was good. 13 satellites in orbit instead of 10, production running through satellite 46, nearly 50 ground gateways, a spectrum strategy targeting 100 MHz in the US, and a $1.3 billion backlog. And above all: a planned joint venture by the three largest US mobile operators. If that comes off, it is not another partnership - it is the entire distribution channel.
But two things here bother me, and I am not going to smooth them over.
The first is the $125.9 million item. A company that books a loss on involuntary conversion of that size and does not explain it in the release leaves the reader without the most basic tool: knowing whether this was a one-off operational event, an asset that was lost, or something covered by insurance. At a company whose entire thesis is hardware launched into space, that is exactly the kind of question you cannot leave open.
The second is the burn rate, even stripping that item out. Adjusted expenses rose from $91.2 million to $119.1 million in a single quarter. At that pace, $2.7 billion in the bank is not an infinite cushion - it is a schedule. Which is presumably why the company raised another $1.15 billion in July, after the balance sheet date.
What I will watch is not revenue, but the move from one stage to the next. The company says it is preparing beta services with select partners. The moment a large mobile operator starts selling the service to paying customers, rather than testing it, is the moment this company turns from an engineering project into a business. Until then, every quarterly report is a construction progress report - and those are read in satellites, not in bottom lines.
