AST SpaceMobile closed at USD 42.14, down 10.46 percent.

AST SpaceMobile saw pronounced institutional option activity on Wednesday, with a $1.62 million long-dated put purchase and a $945.00 thousand out-of-the-money call sale standing out as the most significant trades. The dominant flow leaned bearish, as traders protected against downside and capped upside through 2027 expirations, even as the stock’s implied volatility remained at a low percentile relative to its own trading history.

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Options Indicators

AST SpaceMobile’s implied volatility stands at 95.67%, while its IV percentile is just 19.12%, which indicates that although the absolute IV level is high, it is still low relative to its own historical range. In other words, current option pricing sits on the cheaper side for this name, and with an IV/HV ratio of 1.20, implied volatility is only modestly above realized volatility rather than reflecting an extreme premium. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.48.

Large Trades

A put purchase worth $1.62 million was the largest displayed trade, consisting of 1,250 contracts of the $42.00 put expiring on 2027-12-17. With the stock reference price at $42.14, this strike sat slightly out of the money at execution, making it a notable bearish positioning that targets downside over a long-dated horizon. The size and maturity suggest either a conviction-driven downside bet or a protective hedge against a meaningful decline in ASTS over time.

A call sale worth $945 thousand was the other highlighted trade, involving 1,350 contracts of the $50.00 call expiring on 2027-03-19. Since the strike was above the reference stock price, this was an out-of-the-money call sale, reflecting a bearish-to-neutral stance that caps upside and collects premium while expressing skepticism that ASTS will rally through $50.00 by expiration. Overall, the large-trade flow leans clearly bearish, as the dominant activity was concentrated in downside put buying and upside call selling, indicating that institutional-sized traders were more focused on hedging against weakness or positioning for limited upside rather than chasing further gains.

Strategy Reference

For traders aligned with the capped-upside view but seeking lower margin than a naked call sale, a bear call spread such as selling the $50.00 call and buying the $60.00 call expiring on 2027-03-19 would define risk while still collecting premium; alternatively, a seller targeting a low assignment probability could look further out to the $60.00 strike, which sits well above the recent closing price but offers a smaller credit per contract.