After a week of momentum, AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) is surging today as short interest continues to rise. For the satellite and space tech manufacturer, the past month has been outstanding, as ASTS stock has skyrocketed more than 1,000%. Shares have continued trending upward this week, even as bearish sentiment has mounted.
When a stock surges by this much while interest from short sellers is rising, one question should be asked; is AST SpaceMobile a likely short squeeze candidate?
How High Will ASTS Go?
There’s no telling exactly how high ASTS stock can rise. Six months ago, it could barely stay above $2 per share. Today, it reached over $28 after rallying another 16.37%. ASTS has come down a bit since its August 2024 peak of more than $38 per share, but if this momentum continues, it could reach that level again.
Meanwhile, for all the growth this stock has experienced, short interest in AST SpaceMobile has surged recently. Data from Fintel shows that short interest accounts for 34% of the stock’s float, and short sellers require more than five days to cover all their positions.
MarketBeat reports that “as of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 41,560,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the September 15th total of 38,670,000 shares.”
Is ASTS Stock a Strong Buy?
Few Wall Street institutions have issued price targets on ASTS, but those that have are bullish. Analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on ASTS stock based on 4 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 750% rally over the past year, the average ASTS price target of $43.73 per share implies 57.59% upside potential.
This positive sentiment from Wall Street may raise some speculation as to the likelihood of an ASTS stock short squeeze. But even if analysts are optimistic about AST SpaceMobile’s growth prospects, the number of days to cover short positions is rising and could continue to push the stock even higher, at least in the short term.
