Shares of EchoStar Corp (NASDAQ:SATS) have catapulted up 76.7% to trade at $52.80 this morning, after the company sold a portion of its wireless spectrum licenses to AT&T (T) in an all-cash deal worth roughly $23 billion. The transaction strengthens AT&T's position in the increasingly competitive wireless market, while for EchoStar, it eases ongoing scrutiny the organization had faced from President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Federal Communications Commission over whether the DISH Network parent was meeting key wireless and satellite requirements. The deal is expected to be completed in 2026.
Should today's movement continue in a positive direction, EchoStar could clinch its best session ever, surpassing records set in 2008, when the company first went public. Shooting up to fresh record highs, the stock is now up 129% year to date.
Today's rally is attracting options bulls, with 34,000 calls exchanged today in comparison to 13,000 puts -- overall volume that's a whopping 33 times the usual amount seen at this point. The most active contracts are the September 31- and 40-strike calls, with new positions opening at the former.
Bullish sentiment has been building for EchoStar, with its 10-day call/put volume ratio of 27.40 at the International Securities (ISE), Cboe Options (CBOE) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranking higher than 87% of readings from the past year.
