Telecommunications stock EchoStar Corp (NASDAQ:SATS) was last seen up 6.4% to trade at $99.54, after an upgrade from Morgan Stanley to "overweight" from "equal weight," with a price-target hike to $110 from $82.The firm stated that “as a seller of Spectrum, SATS shares are either immune or stand to benefit from rising competition among US wireless carriers, creating a unique risk/reward relative to the broader industry,”
Prior to today, SATS was already rallying due buzz over a potential SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) in 2026, as the company holds significant stake. Extending last session's record highs, the stock has added 33.7% this week alone. Year to date, the equity is up 333.6%. A short-term dip could be imminent, however, with the stock's 14-day relative strength index (RIS) of 91.7 sitting deep in "overbought" territory.
There remains massive contrarian potential still. A healthy 16% of the stock's total available float is sold short, and at SATS' average pace of trading, it would take shorts almost a full trading week to buy back their bearish bets. Among analysts, six of the nine are on the sidelines with "hold" ratings, while the consensus 12-month price target of $81 is a 17% discount to its current perch.
Options bulls are blasting the stock today, with 13,000 calls exchanged so far -- six times the intraday average pace -- in comparison to just 1,010 puts. The April 115 call is the most popular contract, followed by the weekly 1/9 105-strike call, with new positions opening at the January 2026 135-strike call.
