AT&T shares fall on SpaceX wireless carrier report

AT&T Inc. shares dropped nearly 5.0% in morning trading Friday after Bloomberg reported late Thursday that SpaceX is negotiating to secure access to at least 80,000 cell sites across the United States. The report stated SpaceX is in talks with Crown Castle, which operates approximately 40,000 U.S. cell towers, representing roughly half of all purpose-built towers nationwide.

The potential entry of SpaceX as a fourth nationwide wireless carrier raised concerns about increased competition for AT&T's core wireless business. The news triggered selling across telecom carrier stocks.

The decline extends a difficult period for AT&T that began with its third-quarter 2026 earnings release on October 21. Shares fell sharply that day despite the company reporting adjusted earnings per share of $0.65, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60. Management raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to approximately $2.40.

Investors focused instead on a $2.6 billion non-cash impairment charge and a jump in net debt to roughly $149.8 billion following the EchoStar spectrum transaction. Postpaid phone net additions also came in softer than expected.

Following the earnings report, several Wall Street firms reduced their price targets on AT&T. Morgan Stanley lowered its target to $25, JPMorgan cut to $31, KeyBanc reduced to $33, and Barclays lowered to $21. Most firms maintained constructive ratings on the stock.

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