Institutional ticker directory tracking stock mentions, long/short ideas, and high-conviction pitches extracted from quarterly hedge fund letters.
| Ticker | Company | Sector | Industry | Pitches | Stance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund / Manager | Thesis Excerpt | Stance | Period / Date | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Crossroads Capital Ryan O'Connor | “On AST SpaceMobile, we wrote calls against the position early in the quarter (following Blue Origin's failure to launch BB7) and closed them at a profit. We then sold puts in May with strikes at which we were happy to be put more stock. When the SpaceX IPO gave everyone a reason to sell every space company that wasn't SpaceX, we took the other side, rebuying in late June at roughly the prices at which we'd sold. Q2 picked up exactly where Q1 left off. As we've stated before, the transition we laid out last quarter—from R&D-stage startup to operational scaleup—went from 'underway' to 'unmistakable' over the last three months. It charged us a toll along the way, however: The BB7 satellite launched on April 19 but was then lost when Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket failed during deployment. The failure was cleanly attributable to Blue Origin, not to AST; it amounted to a ~$125 million write-off (partially covered by launch insurance, and claims have been filed). AST's response on the May call was the right one, citing its 33 satellites (now 42, as of this writing) in advanced stages of production. First-quarter results in May landed with modest revenue from gateways and government milestones, guidance reaffirmed, and, roughly $3.5B of cash. More important, the FCC granted commercial authorization for SpaceMobile service in the United States, covering a network of up to 248 satellites. Block 1 satellites also set a 98.9 Mbps peak-speed record to unmodified smartphones, with Block 2 expected to nearly double it. Pro forma liquidity stands near $3.7B as of June 30, 2026, which is more than enough to fund the constellation buildout and get AST to commercial service without going back to the capital markets. The manufacturing story is where the scaleup shows in hard numbers. AST exited 2025 producing six satellites' worth of Micron phased arrays per month. Q2 ended with BlueBirds 11 through 33 in advanced stages of production and assembly, with Micron's equivalent to 40 satellites targeted for completion by mid-year (Update: complete), enough for AST to reach BlueBird 46. Most importantly, CEO Abel Avellan confirmed on the call that single-satellite launches ended with BB7; future missions will stack satellites in groups of three, four, six, or eight. On June 17, BlueBirds 8, 9, and 10 went up together on a single Falcon 9 in the first multi-satellite BlueBird launch. The operational constellation now stands at twelve BlueBirds, and the structural question we flagged last quarter—whether the lighter Block 2 composite bus could hold up in a stacked configuration—has now been answered. Launch math has officially shifted from additive to multiplicative, and the company is targeting roughly 45 satellites in orbit in early 2027. Everything else continued to progress: On the commercial side, Orange, Telefónica, CK Hutchison, Taiwan Mobile, and Sunrise were added or advanced, with Telus and Axian Telecom joining during the quarter. The partner base is now over 60 MNOs covering over 3 billion subscribers, and ground integration is underway in seventeen countries representing a combined 2.9 billion people. On the government side, AST layered a $30M prime contract from the Space Development Agency for HALO Europa Track 2 on top of the SHIELD IDIQ award from January, another direct-to-device national security workstream bolted onto the Golden Dome trajectory. Finally, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have agreed in principle to pool spectrum into a direct-to-device joint venture with economics that we think run directly through AST.” | NEUTRAL | Q2 2026 Aug 18, 2026 | View Pitch |
Creek Drive Capital Management Kevin Mak, CFA | “AST SpaceMobile has rerated materially over the past year despite relatively limited changes to the underlying business. Progress has largely taken the form of execution against previously stated milestones, advancing the regulatory framework and continuing to move the technology toward operational readiness, rather than new information that fundamentally alters the long-term opportunity. One outstanding risk that remains on the cusp of resolution is launch execution. While delays were largely anticipated in our internal planning, we have been somewhat surprised by the degree to which the market has extended the benefit of the doubt despite the company not yet having demonstrated full build-and-launch capability. That dynamic is reflective of the current speculative environment, and we have been disciplined in not chasing the stock as sentiment has improved. Looking ahead, the next three to nine months are expected to be particularly active, with launches, satellite unfurling, and commissioning events likely to drive meaningful volatility. We believe this volatility will create opportunities to actively manage the position within the portfolio. AST SpaceMobile currently represents approximately a 3% position. BSD Analysis: AST SpaceMobile is attempting to build a space-based cellular broadband network — an audacious idea with massive upside if it works. The technology is complex, capital-intensive, and still largely unproven at scale. Partnerships with mobile operators add credibility, but execution timelines are long. Regulatory approvals and satellite deployment are critical gating factors. Success would redefine connectivity economics globally. Failure would be swift and final. This is moonshot infrastructure investing, not a traditional equity.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Jan 2, 2026 | View Pitch |
Crossroads Capital Ryan O'Connor | “AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) During the quarter AST continued its transition from an R&D-oriented startup to a scaleup — a company that has validated its core technology and is now laser-focused on execution: expanding revenue, headcount, and market reach, all in compounding fashion. The milestone horizon has shifted accordingly, away from technological feasibility and toward launch cadence, manufacturing throughput, and expanded commercial agreements — each of which saw meaningful progress through the end of 2025 and into early 2026. Most prominently, ASTS launched its next-generation Block 2 satellite, BlueBird 6, from India in late December 2025 and subsequently completed the successful unfolding of its array — the largest commercial communications antenna ever deployed in low-Earth orbit. Spanning approximately 2,400 square feet, with substantial power output (100–120 kW) and designed to deliver peak data speeds of 120 Mbps at up to ten times the bandwidth capacity of BlueBirds 1–5, BB6 brings with it enormous revenue opportunities — both known and unknown — as the constellation scales to an anticipated 45–60 satellites by the end of 2026. While the unfold milestone might not seem like much to the casual observer, it represents years of innovation and proprietary engineering supported by more than 3,800 patent and patent-pending claims and validates AST's differentiated, vertically integrated manufacturing and technology platform. In other words, with the unfolding of BB6, the final technical unlock has occurred. Incredibly, prior to AST, the only organizations to have deployed an antenna of this size in orbit were NASA and U.S. intelligence agencies. In any case, the next launch — BlueBird 7 aboard Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket — is scheduled for late February, and we anticipate subsequent announcements soon as SpaceX works past some ongoing operations issues and Blue Origin successfully scales its launch operations. The latter situation is where things start to get interesting. BSD Analysis: AST SpaceMobile is the "Cell Tower in the Sky," currently deploying the world's first space-based cellular broadband network designed to connect directly to everyday smartphones. They've successfully secured massive commercial agreements with global telco giants like AT&T and Verizon, who are desperate to end "dead zones" once and for all. In 2026, the firm is transitioning from a "science project" to a massive recurring-revenue utility, as their BlueBird satellites begin providing 5G coverage to the most remote corners of the planet. It's a high-stakes, high-reward play on the total global democratization of connectivity, backed by the most valuable "orbital real estate" in the communications industry.” | BULL | Q4 2025 Dec 31, 2025 | View Pitch |
Crossroads Capital Ryan O'Connor | “We suspect you've heard enough from us about AST of late, but we wanted to take a quick moment to note the company made significant strides in the quarter toward commercializing its space-based cellular broadband network. For those watching closely, Q3 marked a clear transition from an R&D oriented business to one with a clear focus towards scaled deployment and commercialization. These advancements – focused on manufacturing acceleration, spectrum acquisitions, partnerships, and regulatory progress – continue to position the company for initial service rollout in 2026. As a reminder, we continue to view AST as a generational investment opportunity. The company is building the world's first satellite network that talks directly to normal smartphones, aiming to erase coverage gaps while bringing affordable broadband to billions. Based on any reasonable estimate of normalized EBITDA (once its constellation turns on), AST's equity remains grotesquely mispriced should it succeed in its mission to bring about the shift from a partially connected world to a universally connected one. In any case, even conservative scenarios on U.S. mobile-only users or a slice of global subscribers support cash flows that make today's multiple on steady-state earnings look cartoonishly low for a business with this moat and growth profile. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1} BSD Analysis: AST SpaceMobile is either a future telecom disruptor or an expensive science project — and that binary is exactly what makes the equity so volatile. The company aims to deliver space-based broadband directly to standard mobile phones, a moonshot that could rewrite global connectivity economics. Recent testing milestones show the tech isn't vaporware, but scaling a satellite constellation requires capital and partners willing to stomach real risk. Telcos like AT&T are circling because they know spectrum economics only get worse on Earth. If AST executes, it becomes an infrastructure tollbooth with global reach; if not, it burns cash spectacularly. The market is pricing in failure, which leaves asymmetric upside if the company continues hitting technical objectives. This is the definition of high-beta optionality.” | BULL | Q3 2025 Oct 1, 2025 | View Pitch |
“AST SpaceMobile is developing a space-based cellular broadband network using a constellation of satellites that communicate directly with unmodified smartphones. The market opportunity spans military, first responders, remote areas, and underserved regions. AST has partnerships with AT&T, Verizon, Google, Samsung, Vodafone, and others reaching over 3 billion people. They have 5 satellites in orbit and plan 60 more by Q1 2026. Management projects breakeven by end of 2025 with 25 satellites. Competitive advantages include larger satellites enabling broadband, not just text like Starlink's early offering. Defense and first responder use cases offer premium monetization. The company has ~$1.5B cash. AST offers high expected value despite execution and regulatory risk. BSD Analysis: ASTS represents a high-risk, high-reward infrastructure build with enormous optionality if direct-to-device connectivity achieves modest adoption. Partnerships with global carriers derisk distribution and monetization. Satellite size and bandwidth provide clear technical differentiation. Cash runway supports near-term deployment. Execution risks include launch cadence, regulatory approvals, and capex efficiency, but asymmetric upside exists.” | BULL | Q2 2025 Jul 1, 2025 | View Pitch |
Each excerpt above is the manager's commentary on this ticker specifically. The full letter has the rest of their portfolio thinking, risk discussion, and broader institutional context.
