AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) & Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) Critical Analysis

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, risk, earnings and dividends.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom and AST SpaceMobile”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom	$6.81 billion	0.79	-$136.01 million	$1.23	10.17
AST SpaceMobile	$70.92 million	243.97	-$341.94 million	($2.14)	-20.78

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom has higher revenue and earnings than AST SpaceMobile. AST SpaceMobile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom and AST SpaceMobile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom	7.61%	9.38%	4.11%
AST SpaceMobile	-536.66%	-22.88%	-10.67%

Risk and Volatility

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AST SpaceMobile has a beta of 2.72, meaning that its share price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom and AST SpaceMobile, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom	1	2	3	0	2.33
AST SpaceMobile	2	7	5	0	2.21

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom presently has a consensus target price of $15.93, indicating a potential upside of 27.25%. AST SpaceMobile has a consensus target price of $80.18, indicating a potential upside of 80.34%. Given AST SpaceMobile’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AST SpaceMobile is more favorable than Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

61.0% of AST SpaceMobile shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of AST SpaceMobile shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom beats AST SpaceMobile on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telecom Argentina Stet – France Telecom

Telecom Argentina S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services. The company offers mobile telecommunications services, including voice communications, high-speed mobile Internet content and applications download, online streaming, and other services; and sells mobile communication devices, such as handsets, Modems MiFi and wingles, and smart watches. It also internet connectivity products, including virtual private network services, traditional Internet protocol links, and other products; and programming and other cable television services. In addition, the company offers telephone services, including local, domestic, and international long-distance telephone services, as well as public telephone services; and other related supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller ID, voice mail, itemized billing, and maintenance services. Further, it provides Infrastructure, interconnection, datacenter, Internet, value added, and international long-distance services; and data services, including data transmission, virtual private networks, symmetric Internet access, national and international signal transport, and videoconferencing services; Personal Pay, a digital wallet service; and management and administration services. The company was formerly known as Cablevisión S.A. and changed its name to Telecom Argentina S.A. in January 2018. Telecom Argentina S.A. was founded in 1979 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

About AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops and provides access to a space-based cellular broadband network for smartphones in the United States. Its SpaceMobile service provides cellular broadband services to end-users who are out of terrestrial cellular coverage. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Midland, Texas.