SATS price rising: Sling TV and Dish owner EchoStar stock is entering the stratosphere today. Here’s why

Shares in EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS) are entering the stratosphere this morning as the company’s stock price surges after the announcement of a significant deal with telecommunications giant AT&T. Currently, SATS shares are up more than 80% after AT&T agreed to pay the Sling TV and Dish Network $23 billion for some of its wireless spectrum licenses. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happened?

This morning, AT&T and EchoStar announced “a definitive agreement” that will see AT&T purchase wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar. The deal will see AT&T pay EchoStar $23 billion in cash. In return, AT&T will acquire approximately 50 MHz of low-band and mid-band wireless spectrum.

That spectrum haul includes approximately 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum and approximately 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum, according to AT&T.

EchoStar is the parent company that owns several satellite, wireless, and internet subsidiaries, including satellite television provider Dish Network, wireless carrier Boost Mobile, and streaming television service Sling TV.

The $23 billion EchoStar is set to receive is more valuable than the company’s market cap of just over $15 billion (as of yesterday). The sale of some of its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T stands to benefit both companies tremendously, but for very different reasons.

What is a wireless spectrum license?

A wireless spectrum license is a license granted by a government or a government agency that gives companies the right to access certain bands of radio frequencies for wireless communication services, such as those needed to facilitate phone calls or mobile internet, according to the Summit Ridge Group.

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is in charge of doling out these licenses. If a company cannot obtain a license, it cannot offer its wireless communication services on regulated radio frequencies.

How does AT&T benefit from the deal?

If a company wants to be able to expand its wireless communications coverage and service offerings to customers, it needs to acquire more rights to access regulated radio frequencies. And that is exactly what AT&T is getting for its $23 billion purchase from EchoStar.

AT&T says it will use the approximately 50 MHz of low-band and mid-band spectrum it is acquiring by buying EchoStar’s wireless spectrum licenses to expand its 5G offerings to more locations across America. AT&T says that the licenses it is acquiring cover “over 400 markets in total.”

New markets mean AT&T can reach new customers and thus bring in new, recurring revenue month after month.

How does EchoStar benefit from the deal?

EchoStar, on the other hand, gets three main benefits by offloading its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T.

The first is the most beneficial. The deal will allow EchoStar to get the FCC off its back. As noted by Reuters, throughout 2025, the FCC has been investigating EchoStar’s compliance regarding its obligations to use its licenses to provide 5G service across the U.S. By offloading its licenses, EchoStar helps mitigate some of that FCC scrutiny. As the company stated in its press release on the sale, “This transaction is part of EchoStar’s ongoing efforts to resolve the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) inquiries.”

The second way EchoStar benefits from the sale ot AT&T is the huge infusion of cash it stands to get. The $23 billion windfall is nearly $8 billion more than the $15 billion the company was valued at yesterday. EchoStar’s CEO Hamid Akhavan says the company will use the transaction’s proceeds “for, among other things, retiring certain debt obligations and funding EchoStar’s continued operations and growth initiatives.”

The third benefit for EchoStar is that the deal also includes a services agreement to let EchoStar operate its Boost Mobile mobile network as a hybrid mobile network operator (MNO) on AT&T’s airwaves.

How have EchoStar and AT&T stock reacted?

EchoStar stock has surged since the deal was announced shortly before market open this morning. As of the time of this writing, SATS shares are currently up over 80% to $54.24 each.

That share price is an all-time high for the company, which first went public over 15 years ago. With today’s share price jump, SATS shares are now up more than 130% year to date. Over the past twelve months, SATS shares are up 165%.

But while STATS investors are loving the news, investors in AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) seem to be shrugging it off for the most part. As of the time of this writing, T shares are currently down about 1% to $28.47. This suggests that investors are taking a wait-and-see approach to how much the massive purchase by AT&T will actually benefit the company in the future.

Year to date, AT&T shares have risen about 25%. Over the past twelve months, T shares have grown 44%.

As for the company’s deal with EchoStar, AT&T says it expects the agreement to be finalized in mid-2026, subject to regulatory and other approvals.