🔑 Key Takeaways
- 📡 SpaceX is in talks to use at least 80,000 US cell sites for a new mobile network, Bloomberg reported.
- 🏗️ Tower owner Crown Castle jumped nearly 13% after the US open, then eased to about 9%. American Tower rose too.
- 📉 AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell between 3% and 5% on fears of a new, well-funded rival.
- 🧱 80,000 sites is about half of all purpose-built cell towers in the US.
- ⚠️ Honest catch: nothing is signed. The report relies on unnamed sources, and the phone companies are still the towers’ biggest customers.
- 🔍 Want to dig deeper? Research tower stocks, telecoms and SpaceX on Nemo.money, with zero commission and from $1.
⚡ The Short Version
SpaceX wants to become America’s fourth big mobile network. To do that, it needs towers on the ground, not just satellites in space.
On Thursday night, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in talks to access at least 80,000 US cell sites, including with Crown Castle.
On Friday, the tower owners rose. The phone companies fell. Same news, opposite moves.
People are searching:
- Why is Crown Castle stock up today?
- SpaceX cell towers deal
- Starlink Mobile fourth carrier
- Why are AT&T and Verizon stocks down?
- Is American Tower a good stock to buy?
📊 The Moves
Thursday’s close vs Friday morning, about 15 minutes after the US open:
- 🟢 Crown Castle (CCI): $78.83 → $88.84, up 12.7%
- 🔴 AT&T (T): down 4.75% to $21.66
- 🔴 T-Mobile (TMUS): down 4.16% to $152.18
- 🔴 Verizon (VZ): down 3.16% to $43.77
The gains faded a little as the morning went on. By 10:59am New York time, Crown Castle was up 9.4% at $86.27. American Tower (AMT) closed at $181.57 on Thursday. It traded up about 11% before the open, above its 52-week high, then up around 6% later.
📡 What SpaceX Is Building
This is the next step in a plan we covered when Starlink moved into mobile earlier this month.
- 📶 Spectrum: On 8 October, SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz airwaves from Grain Management. The price was not disclosed. The deal needs approval from the US regulator, the FCC.
- 🏠 Why it matters: Low-band signals travel far and get through walls. That fixes a key gap for phones indoors.
- 🗼 Towers: Spectrum alone is not enough. You need antennas on tall structures. That is what the 80,000 sites are for.
- 🎯 The goal: Bloomberg says the deals would support SpaceX’s path to becoming a fourth national carrier. SpaceX said this week it aims to be a major US mobile carrier by 2028.
SpaceX reported its first quarterly profit as a public company this week. Here’s our breakdown of those results.
🗼 Who Owns the Towers?
Most US phone masts are not owned by the phone companies. They are rented from tower firms. Per Bloomberg, via Reuters:
- 🏗️ American Tower: about 42,000 US sites
- 🏗️ Crown Castle: about 40,000 US towers
- 🏗️ Vertical Bridge (private): about 18,000
The Wireless Infrastructure Association counted about 158,500 purpose-built US cell towers last year. So 80,000 is roughly half.
On Wednesday, Crown Castle’s CEO was asked about SpaceX. He said: “You can assume that we’re talking to all parties.” He did not confirm a deal.
💡 The One Lesson
In a fight between tenants, the landlord can win.
Tower companies rent space on the same mast to several phone networks. Each extra tenant adds rent with little extra cost.
So when a new rival shows up, the phone companies worry about losing customers. The tower owners see a possible new tenant.
That is why the same headline sent AT&T down and Crown Castle up. Before you buy a story, ask: who pays, and who gets paid?
⚖️ The Honest Catch
The case for caution:
- ⚠️Gains already fading. Crown Castle gave back part of its jump within the first 90 minutes of trading.
- ⚠️ No deal yet. Truist’s Matthew Niknam said the talks fall “far short” of signed lease agreements. Some may see the news as a negotiating tactic.
- ⚠️ Unnamed sources. SpaceX and the tower firms had not confirmed the report.
- ⚠️ Customer risk. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile supply 93% of Crown Castle’s site rental revenue (24/7 Wall St.). A price war could squeeze the towers’ biggest tenants.
- ⚠️ Debt. Crown Castle carries net debt of about 6.5 times its yearly core earnings, known as adjusted EBITDA (24/7 Wall St.).
- ⚠️ Huge cost. TD Cowen estimates a national ground network would cost more than $80 billion and take many years.
The other side:
- ✅ The news pushes back on the fear that satellites will make towers useless.
- ✅ Tower stocks trade at about 15 times 2027 cash earnings (FFO), about 5 points lower than data centres on the same measure.
- ✅ Crown Castle was down about 19% over the past year before today (Benzinga), so expectations were low.
- ✅ Analysts are split. TD Cowen raised its Crown Castle target to $98 from $92. BMO cut its target to $91 from $93 (both per 24/7 Wall St.).
🙋 What It Means for You
- 🧠 Big one-day jumps on “talks” can fade if no deal follows. Watch for a signed contract, not just headlines.
- 🔍 Look at who the customers are. A company with three customers making up 93% of revenue carries concentration risk.
- 📅 American Tower reports results on 27 October. It may be asked about SpaceX.
- 🧺 Prefer not to pick winners? Our ETF explainer shows how one fund can hold towers, telecoms and tech together.
- 📏 New to investing? Start with our Top 10 rules of investing for beginners.
Crown Castle (CCI), American Tower (AMT), AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS) and SpaceX (SPCX) are each mentioned as an example to research, not a recommendation.
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❓ FAQs
1. Why did Crown Castle stock jump today?
Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is in talks to access at least 80,000 US cell sites, including with Crown Castle. Crown Castle was up about 12.7% shortly after the US open on 23 October and about 9.4% by late morning. No deal has been signed.
2. Why did AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fall?
Investors worry SpaceX could become a fourth national mobile network and compete on price. Shortly after the open, AT&T was down about 4.75%, T-Mobile about 4.16% and Verizon about 3.16%.
3. What is Starlink Mobile?
It is SpaceX’s mobile phone service. It combines satellites with ground networks. In October, SpaceX agreed to buy nationwide 800 MHz airwaves from Grain Management to improve coverage indoors. That deal still needs FCC approval.
4. Is Crown Castle a good stock to buy after this jump?
There are two sides. Supporters say a new tenant like SpaceX could add rent, and Truist says tower stocks look cheap against data centres. Sceptics note that nothing is signed, the stock already jumped on a report, and phone companies supply 93% of its site rental revenue. Look at both before you decide.
5. How many cell towers are there in the US?
The Wireless Infrastructure Association counted about 158,500 purpose-built cell towers in the US last year. SpaceX’s reported target of 80,000 sites is roughly half of that.
🏁 Final Thoughts
SpaceX wants to take on America’s phone giants. Today, the market’s first guess was that the tower owners win either way.
That guess rests on talks, not a contract. Follow the money: who pays, who gets paid, and whether a deal is actually signed.
👉 Start researching on Nemo.money
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