VanEck Associates More Than Doubled Its Stake in AST SpaceMobile. Is Now a Smart Time to Buy Shares of the Satellite Manufacturer?

VanEck Associates increased its holdings of AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) stock by 125% in Q3 2025, as MarketBeat reported last week. The NYC-based privately owned investment manager now owns 782,041 shares of the satellite telecommunications start-up, a stake worth $69.7 million.

Sound impressive? It gets better (for VanEck). According to SEC filings, the company's AST SpaceMobile stake was only worth $38.4 million at the time it disclosed its purchases. That means VanEck has already made an 81% profit on AST in less than six months.

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Investors who've owned AST even longer have done even better. According to Yahoo! Finance data, AST stock has tripled over the last 12 months and is up 13.5 times over the last three years.

Wall Street loves AST SpaceMobile

Everyone loves a winner -- especially on Wall Street. As MarketBeat points out, institutional investors have flocked to AST stock, with companies including Vanguard, Invesco, and Dimensional Fund Advisors all significantly increasing their stakes.

What's driving institutional investors to invest in AST SpaceMobile? Well, the company may have hit an inflection point last quarter. "For the first time in 2025, AST SpaceMobile became a revenue-generating business" in Q4, as CEO Abel Avellan boasted earlier this month.

Although the company's satellites still aren't ready for commercial use, reported revenue surged to $70.9 million in 2025 on the strength of multiple U.S. government contracts. AST is promising further revenue growth this year from both its mobile telecommunications partners and its government contracts, and to start "initial commercial activation."

AST just launched its sixth BlueBird satellite and plans to launch its seventh this month. Future launches will take place every month or two, and will carry more satellites per launch, such that AST will end 2026 with between 45 and 60 satellites in orbit, says the company.

Should you love AST SpaceMobile stock, too?

AST's off to a slow start getting its satellites in orbit, no doubt. But if it delivers on its promises and goes from six BlueBirds in orbit (now) to 60 (in nine months), that should be plenty to support at least a "beta" opening of its direct-to-cell satellite service -- if not full-scale customer rollout.

Even in this optimistic scenario, the cost of building the constellation won't permit AST to turn profitable this year. But by 2027, say analysts polled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, AST should earn its first profit -- and expanding past $1 a share in 2028.

Do I think that AST SpaceMobile stock is a good bargain at $89 a share if it will only (and only maybe) earn a dollar per share two years from now? (Meaning, is 89 times earnings a fair value?) I do doubt that. Still, the company is closer than ever before to having a viable business now. If AST delivers on its promises this year, VanEck Associates' profits may only go up from here.

Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AST SpaceMobile. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.