AST SpaceMobile (ASTS +1.07%) stock got hit with a substantial valuation contraction over the last week of trading. The company's share price ended the week down 13.8%. The stock had been off as much as 22.9% from its level at the end of the previous week's market close, but it wound up seeing a substantial recovery late in Friday's trading.
The sell-off for AST stock happened amid a significant increase in bearish sentiment across the broader market. The S&P 500 declined 1.6% over the last week of trading, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 3%.
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AST stock sank this week amid a tech sell-off
Growth-dependent tech stocks got hit with a surge of bearish momentum this week. Fears that valuations for artificial intelligence (AI) stocks had entered the bubble territory caused investors to trim or exit positions in the category -- and the selling action extended to other areas of the market. While AST SpaceMobile isn't directly an AI company, expectations are that its its satellite-based internet services will eventually see greater use related to artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things.
In addition to heavy contraction for valuation multiples in the tech sector, investors adopted bearish positioning in response to news that U.S. companies laid off more than 153,000 workers in October and that a measure of U.S. consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan had fallen to its weakest level since 2022.
NASDAQ: ASTS
Key Data Points
AST saw big recovery momentum Friday despite the early sell-off
News that the University of Michigan's November read on consumer confidence had declined by roughly 6% since its last report prompted another round of big pullbacks for stocks early in Friday's trading. On the other hand, investors got some bullish relief later in the day following news that the Democrats and Republicans could be nearing a compromise on a spending bill that could bring an end to the government shutdown.
