According to TheFly, Scotiabank said SpaceX’s wireless ambitions are becoming more credible, although its ability to serve densely populated markets and the economics of building a network remain unproven.
- SpaceX agreed to buy up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band from Grain Management, subject to regulatory approval.
- Scotiabank lowered its price targets on Verizon to $50, T-Mobile to $212 and AT&T to $26.50, while maintaining its existing ratings.
- SpaceX plans to combine its satellite-to-mobile constellation with a terrestrial network to expand Starlink Mobile’s coverage.
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS), and AT&T Inc. (T) stocks remained in the spotlight as Scotiabank on Friday issued fresh price target cuts. The firm flagged a higher probability of long-term disruption and valuation pressure following SpaceX’s latest U.S. spectrum acquisition.
According to The Fly, Scotiabank lowered Verizon’s price target to $50 from $51.50 and T-Mobile’s to $212 from $217, maintaining ‘Outperform’ ratings on both. Analyst Maher Yaghi also reduced AT&T’s target to $26.50 from $27.50, retaining a ‘Sector Perform’ rating on the stock.
The three major U.S. carriers saw a sharp selloff in Friday’s premarket. At the time of this writing, VZ stock was down nearly 6%, while TMUS stock and T stock were trading over 7% lower.
What Is SpaceX’s Latest Spectrum Deal?
SpaceX announced Thursday that it had agreed to acquire Grain Management’s nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio, covering up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum.
The company plans to combine its satellite-to-mobile constellation with a terrestrial network to expand Starlink Mobile’s coverage.
According to SpaceX, the newly acquired low-band spectrum would help signals penetrate obstacles such as walls and support connectivity inside buildings. Its existing 2 GHz mid-band spectrum would provide higher-bandwidth capacity.
SpaceX Raises Long-Term Competition Concerns
TheFly quoted a Scotiabank analyst who said SpaceX’s latest purchase makes the threat from hybrid satellite-terrestrial networks more credible, citing the company’s progress toward a long-term strategy to compete with established wireless carriers.
However, the analyst cautioned that SpaceX has yet to prove its network capacity in densely populated markets or the economics of deploying such infrastructure.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan sees limited near-term competitive risk for U.S. wireless carriers, citing the time, infrastructure and capital needed to build a competitive terrestrial network, per TheFly.
The firm had previously expressed a more cautious view of the near-term competitive threat, noting that building its own network would require significant resources from SpaceX without a clear consumer value proposition.
The firm did not expect Starlink Mobile to meaningfully challenge the roughly $240 billion U.S. mobile-service revenue market over its forecast horizon.
What Retail Thinks of VZ, T and TMUS Stock
On Stocktwits, retail investor sentiment around TMUS and VZ stock was ‘extremely bullish,’ while sentiment around T stock was ‘bullish,’ amid high message volume.
So far in 2026, TMUS stock has fallen more than 14%, T stock has stayed flat, while VZ stock has gained more than 14%. In comparison, the State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC), which holds all three stocks, has slipped around 4% over the same period.
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