Contrasting AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) & Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK)

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LILAK) and AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Global and AST SpaceMobile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Global	-2.20%	-8.50%	-0.82%
AST SpaceMobile	-536.66%	-22.88%	-10.67%

Risk & Volatility

Liberty Global has a beta of 0.7, indicating that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AST SpaceMobile has a beta of 2.72, indicating that its share price is 172% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Liberty Global and AST SpaceMobile”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Global	$4.46 billion	0.35	-$611.20 million	($0.49)	-16.31
AST SpaceMobile	$70.92 million	218.35	-$341.94 million	($2.14)	-18.59

AST SpaceMobile has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Liberty Global. AST SpaceMobile is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Global, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

53.0% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of AST SpaceMobile shares are held by institutional investors. 9.7% of Liberty Global shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 20.9% of AST SpaceMobile shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Liberty Global and AST SpaceMobile, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Global	1	2	0	0	1.67
AST SpaceMobile	2	6	6	0	2.29

Liberty Global presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.64%. AST SpaceMobile has a consensus price target of $80.67, suggesting a potential upside of 102.74%. Given AST SpaceMobile’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AST SpaceMobile is more favorable than Liberty Global.

Summary

AST SpaceMobile beats Liberty Global on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies. The company also operates a sub-sea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network that connects approximately 40 markets. It provides its services under the brands of C&W, Liberty Costa Rica, Liberty Communications, BTC, Flow, and Mas Móvil. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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.