TLDR
- SpaceX stock rose about 1.7% in early trading to $163.30 on Friday.
- Barclays started coverage with a Buy rating and a $254 price target.
- SpaceX is buying low-band wireless spectrum from Grain Management to build a mobile carrier business.
- AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile stock dropped 6% to 9% on the news, while tower companies jumped.
- SpaceX shares are on track for a second straight weekly gain.
SpaceX stock climbed 1.7% in early trading Friday to $163.30, as two separate pieces of news gave investors a reason to buy. The move came as the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose about 0.3%.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
The bigger driver was a wireless spectrum deal announced Thursday evening. SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14 megahertz of paired 800 MHz spectrum from Grain Management, covering the continental US, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
Low-band spectrum like this travels farther and penetrates walls better than higher frequencies. That makes it useful for indoor coverage, a weak spot for satellite-based service.
What the Spectrum Deal Means
SpaceX said the purchase supports its plan to combine Starlink’s satellite network with ground-based wireless infrastructure. The company called it part of an “advanced terrestrial deployment” strategy, with the stated goal of becoming a major mobile carrier.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction still needs regulatory approval before it closes.
The news did not sit well with traditional telecom stocks. AT&T dropped as much as 7% in early trading, while Verizon and T-Mobile each fell between 6% and 9%.
Wireless tower companies had the opposite reaction. American Tower rose about 8% and Crown Castle gained around 11%, as investors bet that SpaceX’s terrestrial build-out could mean more business for tower operators rather than less.
Separately, Barclays analyst Anthony Valentini started coverage of SpaceX with a Buy rating and a $254 price target. That target sits well above the current stock price and above the average analyst target of about $227.
“SpaceX is the name to own in space due to its complete dominance of each vertical it operates in,” Valentini wrote. He pointed to Starlink’s lead in communications and SpaceX’s future plans for orbital data centers tied to AI.
Valentini also raised his rating on Boeing to Buy, along with Rocket Lab, RTX, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and Palantir Technologies. He sees the broader aerospace and defense sector as a buying opportunity.
Analyst Sentiment Keeps Climbing
According to FactSet, 76% of analysts covering SpaceX now rate the stock a Buy. That’s well above the typical range of 55% to 60% for S&P 500 companies, showing unusually strong conviction from Wall Street.
TD Cowen reiterated its own Buy rating Friday morning, with a $200 price target tied specifically to the spectrum news. The firm noted SpaceX currently trades well below its 52-week high of $225.64.
Other firms have piled on this week too. Needham kept a Buy rating and $250 target, pointing to AI compute contracts expected to ramp up in the fourth quarter. Bernstein SocGen Group reiterated Outperform with a $248 target following the successful orbital flight of Starship Launch 14.
William Blair also reiterated an Outperform rating after the spectrum purchase was first announced. Erste Group, meanwhile, started coverage with a more cautious Hold rating, though it still flagged SpaceX’s goal of hitting $100 billion in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
Starlink itself ended the third quarter with about 12 million subscribers. InvestingPro data suggests the stock may be trading above fair value estimates even with the recent gains.
Friday’s early rally puts SpaceX stock up roughly 3% for the week, marking its second consecutive weekly gain. Shares have now risen in five of the past six weeks. In after-hours trading following the TD Cowen note, SpaceX stock added another 1.4%.
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