AT&T (T) Shares Slide After Report SpaceX Is Seeking 80,000 Cell Sites
AT&T slid 8.0% and T-Mobile 7.7% on Friday after Bloomberg reported SpaceX is in talks for at least 80,000 US cell sites for a phone network. Crown Castle soared 9.1%.
What happened
Shares of AT&T (T), one of the three big US wireless carriers, slid 8.0% on Friday after a report that SpaceX is lining up cell sites for a phone network of its own. T-Mobile US (TMUS) slid 7.7%, and Verizon (VZ) fell 1.2%.
Late Thursday, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company, is in talks for access to at least 80,000 US cell sites to build a fourth national carrier, citing people familiar with the matter. Crown Castle (CCI), which owns towers, is among the companies it is talking to. Nothing has been signed, and neither SpaceX nor the tower owners immediately responded to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
AT&T closed at $20.93, down 8.0% from the previous close and its lowest close since 6 July. T-Mobile closed at $146.54, its lowest since November 2023.
Why it matters
Three companies have long dominated US wireless, and investors worry that a rich newcomer could force price cuts. Eighty thousand sites is about half of the 158,500 US cell towers counted by the Wireless Infrastructure Association, Yahoo Finance noted. It’s the second jolt this month: AT&T plunged 10.8% on 9 October after SpaceX agreed to pay about $8 billion for a nationwide block of wireless airwaves, Yahoo Finance reported.
The winners were the landlords. Tower companies rent space to every carrier, so a new tenant means more rent whoever wins the customers. Crown Castle soared 9.1%, the best performer in the S&P 500 by our count, while American Tower (AMT) jumped 4.1% and SBA Communications (SBAC) 3.6%.
“You can assume that we’re talking to all parties,” Crown Castle Chief Executive Chris Hillabrant said on Wednesday’s earnings call, without naming anyone.
What the market is telling us
AT&T’s shares moved 5% or more on 5 of the last 252 sessions. The last move at least this big in the same direction was on 9 October 2026, when the stock fell 10.8%. The stock is down 15.7% this year, and at $20.93 it sits 28.1% below its 52-week closing high of $29.10 from 27 March 2026.
Our view: a carrier that doesn’t exist yet has caused two of AT&T’s five 5%-plus moves in the past year, and until SpaceX signs leases or sets prices, each new report can do it again.
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Mostly Markets is for information and education only and isn't investment advice. Nora Whitfield is a pen name. Prices are from Nasdaq and CNBC as of the time stated.
