The tension is rising AST SpaceMobile‘S (ASTS -10.41%) first commercial satellite launch in the first half of September. The stock has soared in anticipation of the launch of the company’s five BlueBird commercial satellites, which are awaiting the upcoming launch window at Cape Canaveral.

Scotiabank analyst Andres Coello thinks investors should own AST shares for a number of reasons and just raised his price target from $28 to $45.90 per share, representing a gain of about 47 percent from Tuesday’s closing price. And that’s after the stock had risen 400 percent for the year to Tuesday’s close.

On the way to becoming the world’s leading mobile operator

But Coello didn’t just raise the company’s price target because of the launch event. In a research note this week, Coello wrote that the “buy recommendation is not based on a short-term trading opportunity, but rather on the company’s potential to become the world’s largest wireless company by subscribers.” This could be achieved by reaching the huge global population that currently lacks internet access.

Coello’s optimism about AST’s business is based on two main factors. First, FirstNet’s expected revenue in 2026 is estimated at $150 million, up from the $60 million previously estimated. FirstNet, operated by AT&Tis the nationwide public safety network for emergency response. It plans to use AST’s satellite network. The analyst also believes that lower financing costs will contribute to a higher valuation.

As AST’s business model matures and more milestones are reached, financing costs should come down. That could attract more investors to AST SpaceMobile. But there are still a lot of moving parts with this young company. Scotiabank had just raised its price target to $28 less than two weeks ago.

This shows how quickly assessments and the situation can change. Investors who are interested in AST shares should have the appropriate risk appetite for such an investment. In the long term, however, it has the potential to be a speculative winner.