EchoStar stock scrambled higher Monday following reports from Bloomberg late Friday that President Donald Trump urged the company to cut a deal with the Federal Communications Commission for its wireless spectrum licenses.
Trump on Thursday met with EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and FCC Chair Brendan Carr. The aim of the meeting was to negotiate an end their feud over EchoStar's wireless spectrum licenses. Spectrum licenses are permits issued by the government that grant exclusive rights to use specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as certain radio frequencies.
Mobile wireless and satellite TV operator EchoStar owns Boost Mobile, HughesNet, Dish and Sling.
The FCC in May said it would investigate EchoStar's compliance with federal requirements to build out a nationwide 5G network, the Wall Street Journal reported in May. In 2019, Dish was tasked to deploy a 5G network to 70% of the U.S. and maintain cellular licenses worth billions of dollars.
However, the FCC has questioned EchoStar's buildout and threatened to revoke some licenses. EchoStar argues that it has satisfied all its obligations and has been trying to protect its spectrum licenses.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is among those vying for EchoStar's licenses. SpaceX in an April letter said that EchoStar's spectrum in the 2 gigahertz band "remains ripe for sharing among next-generation satellite systems," the WSJ reported.
EchoStar countered saying that SpaceX is seeking "even more free spectrum."
EchoStar Stock Rallies On The News
SATS stock rallied 49.1% Monday to 25.11. It rebounded strongly above its 50-day moving average and testing its 200-day line.
EchoStar had tumbled 48% from its March 3 high of 32.48 through Friday, with shares down 26.5% on the year. SATS stock is now up 9.7% in 2025 after Monday's gain.
EchoStar stock has a 21-day average true range ratio of 7.31%.
The average true range is a metric available on IBD's MarketSurge that gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq now in a power trend, investors can buy stocks with ATRs up to 8%, though they should be wary of too much concentration in high-octane names.
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