The High Altitude Gamble
I’ve always been fascinated by the term “moonshot.” In the world of investing, it usually means “high risk, high reward.” Today, I read about AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), a company that literally and figuratively fits the bill. The Motley Fool suggests that if you have $50,000 you don’t need for groceries or rent, this might be the place to park it.
It’s a bold claim for a company that isn’t expected to turn a profit until 2028. But the promise? Turning every standard smartphone into a satellite phone. No clunky hardware, just a regular signal from space.
Connecting the Unconnected
The article highlighted something staggering: 87% of the world isn’t covered by traditional mobile networks. We live in such a bubble of connectivity that we forget how much of the planet is still a dead zone. ASTS isn’t just targeting the hikers lost in the woods; they are looking at emergency responders and defense personnel.
They have the partners - AT&T, Google, American Tower. They have the tech - satellites that talk directly to your iPhone. But they also have a valuation that has soared 4,000% since mid-2024. That is the kind of number that makes you dizzy.
Risk vs. Gravity
The stock is “frothy,” they say. A polite way of saying “expensive.” But the market seems to be pricing in a future where dead zones are extinct.
It reminds me that the biggest leaps in technology often look like the worst ideas on paper until they suddenly work. Betting on ASTS right now is betting against gravity - both the physical kind and the financial kind. But if they pull it off, that $50,000 won’t just be a moonshot; it will be an interstellar voyage.
For now, I’ll watch from the ground. But I’ll be looking up.