Why AST SpaceMobile Plunged Today

Shares of AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) were down as much as 13.4% on Tuesday, before recovering to an 8.7% decline following the release of the company's third-quarter earnings report.

The results likely didn't matter as much in the wake of today's hotter-than-expected inflation report. AST currently has very little revenue, so a potential rise in interest rates disproportionately reduces the present value of AST's future profits.

AST's stock price has already fallen by a whopping 100 points from its late May high of $133 per share, and today's price action adds insult to injury. The primary reason for the stock's precipitous fall over the summer was likely competitive concerns regarding Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies (NASDAQ:SPCX). SpaceX announced, in conjunction with its June IPO, that it will pursue a direct-to-cell mobile service, AST's turf, whereas SpaceX had only previously tackled broadband.

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