ASTS
AST SpaceMobile, Inc.
ASTS offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
KLAC
KLA Corporation
KLAC has the edge over ASTS overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
ASTS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
ASTS's revenue is currently healthy, but its profitability and cash flow are weak. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
KLAC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
KLAC's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
ASTS PE Valuation
ASTS has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
KLAC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 18x | $72.57 | -54% |
| Forward | 25x | $157 | — |
| Fair | 27x | $109 | -31% |
| Expensive | 39x | $156 | -0.9% |
| Current | 39x | $157 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KLAC's PE is in its expensive range at 39x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 25x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
ASTS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses growing | |
| Strong growth | |
| -- | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect ASTS's losses to grow, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
KLAC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for KLAC, with profitability improving.
ASTS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$2.15 | -$0.91 |
| Q2 2026 | -$2.16 | -$0.27 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.80 | +$0.19 |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.34 | +$0.61 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.24 | +$0.88 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.89 | -$0.64 |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.99 | -$1.01 |
| Q4 2022 | -$0.58 | -$0.21 |
ASTS is still losing money, but far less than before: $2.15 per share over the past year, against $5.76 at its worst in mid-2021.
KLAC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.22 | +56% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.99 | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.66 | +20% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.53 | +28% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.44 | +45% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.18 | +45% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.04 | +50% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.75 | +44% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.38 | +21% |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
ASTS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $42.3M | +187% |
| Q2 2026 | $31.5M | +2627% |
| Q1 2026 | $14.7M | +1952% |
| Q4 2025 | $54.3M | +2731% |
| Q3 2025 | $14.7M | +1240% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.2M | +28% |
| Q1 2025 | $718K | +44% |
| Q3 2022 | $4.2M | +70% |
ASTS's revenue has grown year over year for 11 quarters in a row: $42M last quarter, up 187% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -415% | +694 points |
| Q2 2026 | -948% | +10744 points |
| Q1 2026 | -1686% | +7083 points |
| Q4 2025 | -175% | +2446 points |
| Q3 2025 | -1109% | +4850 points |
| Q2 2025 | -11692% | -4693 points |
| Q1 2025 | -8769% | +2331 points |
| Q4 2024 | -2621% | N/A |
ASTS's operating margin was −415% last quarter, up 694 points from the same quarter a year ago.
KLAC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.1B | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.7B | +15% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.4B | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.3B | +7.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.2B | +13% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.2B | +24% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.1B | +30% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.1B | +24% |
KLAC's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $4.1B last quarter, up 29% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 44% | +3.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 42% | +0.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 41% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 40% | +8.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 41% | +2.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 42% | +5.1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 41% | +12 points |
| Q4 2024 | 32% | +3.8 points |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ASTS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$464.2M | -$161.4M |
| Q2 2026 | -$694.8M | -$341.1M |
| Q1 2026 | -$309.7M | -$160.7M |
| Q4 2025 | -$330.7M | -$220.3M |
| Q3 2025 | -$302.9M | -$239.1M |
| Q2 2025 | -$353.6M | -$315.3M |
| Q1 2025 | -$149M | -$61.3M |
| Q4 2024 | -$110.5M | -$63.2M |
ASTS has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$1.8B over the past year, against −$916M the year before.
KLAC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.3B | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $817.1M | -23% |
| Q1 2026 | $622.3M | -37% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.3B | +67% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.1B | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +28% |
| Q1 2025 | $990M | +18% |
| Q4 2024 | $757.2M | +39% |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
ASTS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +1.1M shares |
| 1 year | +10% | +27.3M shares |
| 3 years | +235% | +211M shares |
| 5 years | +480% | +248M shares |
| Available history | +944% | +271M shares |
ASTS has 300M diluted shares, up 10% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
KLAC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.6% | -8.6M shares |
| 1 year | -1% | -12.7M shares |
| 3 years | -4.4% | -60M shares |
| 5 years | -15% | -223M shares |
| Available history | -17% | -275M shares |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $935.8M |
| Q2 2026 | $571M |
| Q1 2026 | $626M |
| Q4 2025 | $547.8M |
| Q3 2025 | $545.1M |
| Q2 2025 | $425.7M |
| Q1 2025 | $506.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $650.1M |
KLAC spent $2.7B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 26% from the year before.
ASTS Net Leverage
ASTS's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
KLAC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Very low |
KLAC's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
ASTS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 34.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.9 | Oversold |
ASTS's weekly RSI is 34 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 12 (oversold).
KLAC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 44.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 21.4 | Neutral |
KLAC's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 21 (neutral).
ASTS PE vs Technology Sector
ASTS has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
KLAC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | KLAC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 39x | 28x | 41% above |
| PE % | 84 | 35 | 49 pts above |
KLAC is trading at 39x earnings, a 41% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
ASTS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $44.9 | 23% below |
| 20 week MA | $57.1 | 40% below |
| 50 week MA | $75.5 | 54% below |
| 100 week MA | $57.8 | 40% below |
| 200 week MA | $33.6 | 2.8% above |
ASTS has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 2.8% above its 200-week average.
KLAC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $169.4 | 7.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $186.7 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $173.7 | 9.4% below |
| 100 week MA | $129.4 | 22% above |
| 200 week MA | $94.0 | 67% above |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
ASTS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $9.87 | $13.4 | +36% |
| 2021 | $13.4 | $8.71 | -35% |
| 2022 | $8.71 | $3.97 | -54% |
| 2023 | $3.97 | $6.03 | +52% |
| 2024 | $6.03 | $22.9 | +280% |
| 2025 | $22.9 | $72.0 | +214% |
| 2026 YTD | $72.0 | $34.5 | -52% |
ASTS's yearly returns have swung widely, from +280% in 2024 to −54% in 2022. It's down 52% so far in 2026.
KLAC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $17.9 | $25.9 | +45% |
| 2021 | $25.9 | $42.1 | +62% |
| 2022 | $42.1 | $37.7 | -10% |
| 2023 | $37.7 | $58.1 | +54% |
| 2024 | $58.1 | $64.5 | +11% |
| 2025 | $64.5 | $128.0 | +98% |
| 2026 YTD | $128.0 | $157.3 | +23% |
KLAC has the edge over ASTS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.