Morgan Stanley believes EchoStar’s business gives it an advantage over other companies in the U.S. wireless business. The bank upgraded the telecommunications company’s stock from equal weight to overweight. Analyst Benjamin Swinburne also raised his price target to $110 from $82. EchoStar stock has soared 308% this year. Swinburne’s new forecasts suggest a further 18% rise in the future. SATS YTD Mountain SATS YTD Chart Swinburne cited an increase in EchoStar’s value following announcements of spectrum sales to AT&T and SpaceX, scheduled to close by mid-2026 and November 2027, respectively. “The value we are assigning to the cash proceeds from spectrum sales announced at YE26 PT is approximately 22% higher than our previous PT assumption,” he wrote. “We also expect both Verizon and T-Mobile to be interested in this spectrum for their networks, so we estimate the value that EchoStar could capture in the remaining AWS-3 spectrum licenses by $1.50 to $2.50. The analyst also highlighted that EchoStar offers a strong hedge against broader competitive trends in the U.S. wireless industry, which is probably the biggest concern for investors heading into 2026. But in some ways, EchoStar is “completely uncorrelated,” he said, and may even stand to benefit from increased industry competition in the U.S. “As a seller of spectrum, SATS stock is either immune to or stands to benefit from increased competition among U.S. wireless carriers, creating its own risk/reward relative to the broader industry.” Mr Swinburne added. Echostar shares rose more than 4% following the upgrade.
