$ASTS: Some SpaceMob have speculated that the last two days of downward pressure might be hedging pressure from Ligado owners Fortress and Cerberus. Recall that Ligado will receive 4.7M penny warrants once the Ligado Definitive Agreement is executed which was targeted around March 23rd.
Real-time short interest indicates an increase of 4.3M shares short over the last two days👀
3/20: 59.7M
3/19: 57.6M
3/18: 55.4M
Interestingly Ligado dropped its Delaware suit against Inmarsat this week (although they intend to continue to pursue claims in NY State Court), which could suggest a settlement is near that could coincide with an AST SpaceMobile / Ligado definitive agreement. Maybe a deal could be reached that is supported by Inmarsat?
The #SpaceMob group chat on Xitter has been speculating that this week's declines in $ASTS was related to some aggressive hedging of the 4.7M penny warrants associated with the Ligado spectrum. The "real time" short data would support that thesis.