AST SpaceMobile Inc Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Griffin Boss - B. Riley Securities - Analyst : So your agreements with the roughly 50 MNO partners represent 3 billion subscribers now. How many MNO subscribers could be addressed by this new SATCO joint venture with Vodafone? Or yes, what would be more helpful is if you can give us a rough sense of the incremental number of subscribers this partnership could allow you to tap into, given this opens up the entire European market, which I assume likely includes MNOs that you didn't already have MOUs with. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 04, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q4 2024 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call

Question: Griffin Boss - B. Riley Securities - Analyst : That's great context. And then next for me, it's related, but well, not related to that, but a two-part question, both are related. First is this $43 million contract with the STA. It's great to see. Yes, is this for noncommunication applications and services that you've mentioned for some time now and discussed in the prepared remarks? And then second, part of this question, are you able to provide more detail as to what these noncommunications applications are that your architecture is able to support? Are we talking missile tracking, PNT, remote sensing? Any color that you can provide to us, I think, would be helpful.

Question: Griffin Boss - B. Riley Securities - Analyst : Okay. And so should we expect that to be linearly recognized over the next 12 months? Or are you providing some services now that might be more robust in, say, six months?

Question: Chris Schoell - UBS Equities - Analyst : We saw a lot of buzz with T-Mobile and Starlink's recent launch of its data messaging service. Can you just remind us how your technology differs versus what T-Mobile and Starlink are bringing to market and the advantages you have? And I appreciate their service is just messaging to start. But given the price points they put out there, how does this influence your own pricing strategy as you ready a full voice and broadband product?

Question: Chris Schoell - UBS Equities - Analyst : Got it. And then if I can just fit one more in on funding. I see the language in the 10-K indicating you have funding that you need for the next 12 months with the ATM. I appreciate there are a number of moving pieces. But as you look to 2026 and the ability to launch the 60 satellites, any help sizing the amount of capital you think you still need to raise and how you evaluate the different sources?

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : I had a few, if I could. I guess, first, on launches, are you still on track for an April launch of the next satellite? I think that's what you said. And can you give us any rough sense for the pacing you expect for launches in '25 and '26? Just roughly how many of the up to 60 would you expect to launch this year versus next year? I had a question about cost per satellite, if that's changed at all or if it's still the $19 million to $21 million per satellite? And then the last thing I just want to ask you about was sort of following up on that funding topic from the last question. We get a lot of questions regarding how much funding you'll need to fund the business plan and get to free cash flow positive. But it seems like the more funding you have REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 04, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q4 2024 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call available, the wider the scope of the business plan becomes and the faster you accelerate the business plan. So it's not really about how much you need, but it's more about how much you can raise on attractive terms and invest at an attractive return. Is that the right way to think about it? And anything you'd elaborate on there from a funding perspective?

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : And anything on the cost per satellite? Has that changed at all? Or are you still in that $19 million to $21 million range?

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Okay. And then if I could just follow up just on funding. So you still expect to get to free cash flow positive at 25 satellites. I just want to make sure I understand that right? Or does the acceleration sort of modify that time line?

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Okay. And then I'm sorry, but just the last, I guess, follow-up to that would then be just trying to understand, so if you can be free cash flow positive, roughly 25 satellites, just trying to understand the need for the $500 million in quasi-government funding that you're pursuing. And I understand it's attractive money. Is that more to refinance? Or do you need that money for other operational purposes?

Question: Bryan Kraft - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Are those quasi-government sources, are those more like a facility that once you have it, you can draw on it and not pay interest on the whole thing? Or is it once you get it, you get it and now you've got this pile of cash that you've got to service the debt on?

Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald - Analyst : Maybe starting off, if you can talk a little bit about the organizational structure with respect to your chipset engineering team and maybe reflect a little bit or talk a little bit about how that chipset team is working with folks either at more kind of a handset OE level or even to the higher levels of Vodafone, Google and the like.

Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald - Analyst : Yes. Fully understood on the satellite chip being big, just making sure I kind of understood the level of signals and frequency teaming between OEs and AST. As we think about the non-GAAP OpEx progression through the year, can you just maybe talk about how you think about the current guide and the level of step-up through the year and where you expect most of the cost growth through the year to progress?

Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald - Analyst : Got it. And then maybe a little bit on the European opportunity. It seems like the high-level structure of [Iris] is looking to track towards something like STA, where there's a lot of manufacturing upfront and aspirations for large leveraging of, we'll say, kind of more prime type acquisition approaches. But as we've seen from the supply chain development on kind of for the US side, it's clear that there's obviously opportunities for services growth, right, the $43 million that AST has won. So maybe if you can talk about the structure of AST, how you think about your ability to win contracts like the $43 million from STA and the types of rev rec that we should expect, whether it's more cost or fee and kind of service delivery-based approaches? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 04, 2025 / 10:00PM, ASTS.OQ - Q4 2024 AST SpaceMobile Inc Earnings Call

Question: Colin Canfield - Cantor Fitzgerald - Analyst : Right. Okay. And then last one for me, maybe latest and greatest in terms of kind of expectations around Ligado deal closing, whether it's tracking core filings or kind of where you expect the next piece of information to come out?