To validate exactly what I had said about the difficulty of determining the "unlock" - imagine my surprise when I woke up to see $ASTS up 5-10%. I was already prepared to be "pissed" at the stock being up 25-30% because I thought the stock deserved to be a lot more Image
Successful launch should have been routine, but for a stock where so much sentiment is tied up in BW-3, anything that deviated from plan would have been taken out of context (never mind that $ASTS accrued all the IP and learning value from getting BW-3 through testing) Image
In reality, the probability of a successful launch was ~100%, so there was not that much risk into launch, as dramatic as a launch is. I know I was a nervous wreck. Anyone who didn't have the finale of Koyaanisqatsi somewhere in their mind is lying en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisq… Image
I personally think Efficient Market Hypothesis is a load of sh~t, but here we are. The market apparently priced launch correctly Image
So we continue to search for the elusive 'unlock' for $ASTS, which is the reason to own the stock now instead of waiting until everything is obvious. I wonder whether we get a Biotech-type move ever, or if it's a slow steady ascent
I believe popular opinion is that the unfurling will be a major unlock. Let's unpack that idea (lol - what a great pun!)
First things first, it's clear that the $ASTS team measures twice and cut once. I'm not concerned at all about unfurling because I invested behind a team, not behind a piece of metal. #MeetTheTeam is exceptional and this is like watching the birth of a Qualcomm Image
When it comes to stocks, I believe you have to identify 'the obvious' and then move at least one click earlier. It's about the inflection of the 2nd derivative. If unfurling is the inflecting 2nd derivative, then you have to buy now in order to capture the big re-value Image
However, $ASTS stock might not work until we have actual monetization and/or demonstrate Bluebirds can be manufactured at scale. It could easily be the case that efficient market theory tells us "yeah dummy, the tech obviously works"...but the market doubts something else Image
So why own $ASTS now? You don't have to...but, re-valuation events occur suddenly and unexpectedly earlier than you think. Most return is compressed into short times. Are you sure you know when the unlock is? Are you sure you understand the game theory of how others will act? Image
What I "worry about," especially after $TMUS / SpaceX / $AAPL / $GSAT is a sudden change in Wall Street understanding about the trend. $TSLA was left for dead forever because Wall Street doubted the TAM or customer preferences Image
Imagine an initiation by $MS that shows the unbelievable TAM and early market lead by $ASTS? Then imagine how stupid you'd feel if you had been trying to time things perfectly. Imagine Ron Baron pitches $ASTS at Ira Sohn...duh, what an obvious stock! Image
Ask yourself, would you really establish your position on a +30% break? Would you hesitate and pray for a pull back? Would it come? Returns streams can be compressed and unpredictable. Be careful not to outsmart yourself Image

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More from @thekookreport

Sep 13
File this to read on a less tumultuous day - I realize there is little appetite for any high beta stocks like $ASTS, but critical thinking should never stop. Here is an interesting $MS piece today on SpaceX. Having just seen a SpaceX launch, it's humbling and inspiring ImageImage
It's clear that satellite connectivity is quickly moving from the dust-bin of history when Iridium & GlobalStar, etc were promising technologies that failed to get product-market fit. There are a LOT of examples of loose analogues Image
Now there is a flurry of activity around CONSUMERIZED services that take incredible technology, but make it low-cost and low-friction for consumers. This is where a previously niche technology can go mass market. This creates TAM Image
Read 11 tweets
Sep 12
I'll keep office hours open a bit more to answer this question since it's interesting and explains a bit about the incestuous relationship between the buyside and the sell side
Again, let's start with the extreme example to drive home the point. $MS recently got in trouble over its block trades. Funds were tipped off they were coming so would depress the price to get a deal. Syndicate desks were just given money bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
In fact, the problem was so pervasive there is literally a rule against covering a short into an offering

sec.gov/about/offices/…
Read 8 tweets
Sep 12
Ok, last tweet today, but thought I'd share something interesting about how options work. $ASTS has an astounding 171,000 open call option contracts, representing 17MM shares or like 40% of the float. Launch was a huge jump-risk volatility event, at least-ex-ante Image
Investors generally own the calls, sold to them by hedged dealers. Dealers are short delta or basically fractional shares of stock, and short gamma, which means if the stock goes up, they are way shorter than they intended to be. To hedge, they owned more stock ahead of events
After successful launch of BW-3 on Saturday, we woke up today to a massive volatility crunch because this "risky" event had passed. The chart below shows the relationship of delta vs. implied volatility Image
Read 5 tweets
Sep 12
$ASTS has caused some consternation about its prospective dilution because of its cash demands and to-date choice around how to fund growth, namely, its filing of At-The-Market ("ATM") facilities with B. Riley and Evercore Image
Some shareholders rightly wonder about the risk of dilution and whether there is an overhang. This is a valid concern and one I care about a lot. Let's just put this out into open air and have a little discussion
For background, ATM's have an insidious reputation for anyone with experience on Wall Street. When I hear ATM, I think of sleazebags like George Economou. Greek shipping companies adopted ATMs to fleece retail shareholders and enrich themselves with related-party transactions Image
Read 22 tweets
Sep 12
Definitely seeing a lot of this. When taking a step back and viewing the world through $ASTS stock (at least i'm honest), it's crazy that $ASTS (effectively a Series C-stage company) is marked UP from its last financing. Not many other Series C companies can say the same Image
Let's look at how dispersion has occurred in the market since the "Age of Ebullience & Idiocy" we saw in 2021 to the "Age of Show Me" that we currently live in. It's the metaphorical low tide Image
As a case study, let's look at what I believe is one of the largest jokes outside of the EV jokes - ASTRA! Astra is the butt of jokes in industry, since it's rockets appear designed to destroy everything around them Image
Read 8 tweets
Sep 12
I know where people stand on $CVNA (they hate it), but look at how cleaned up this is getting. About to have 50dma cross the 100dma. I have been intrigued by the large market opportunity, but understand the bear case, respect it, and fear it (just to be clear)
The bull case is that a) declining used car prices juice market volumes again and b) COVID disruptions go away, both of which go to driving operating leverage. A big operating snafu and de-leveraged margins created confusion whether the model was totally busted
$CVNA had over-built into what turns out to be anemic used car volumes as high prices crushed affordability. That caused SG&A / unit to fall apart. The disruption also screwed up what are very complex logistics, leading to bad costs
Read 5 tweets

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