Shares of EchoStar Corp (NASDAQ:SATS) are soaring today, up 17.1% to trade at $78.71 at last look, after news that the company is selling wireless spectrum licenses to Elon Musk's SpaceX for roughly $17 billion. The deal, which expands Starlink's mobile coverage abilities, is pushing the rest of the telecommunications sector lower today.
Today's pop has SATS gapping to record highs. The stock had already been on a record run, however, notching several all-time peaks since its Aug. 26 bull gap following a deal with AT&T (T). Since the start of the year, the equity is up 245.2%.
Options traders are chiming in, with quite a few appearing to bet on a correction. So far today, 26,000 calls and 37,000 puts have been traded, which is six times the overall volume typically seen at this point. The weekly 10/3 50-strike put is the most popular, with positions being bought to open there.
There is still of short covering potential to unwind, though. Short interest has been building despite the recent rally, and now represents 12.2% of the stock's available float.
