---
title: "EchoStar's SpaceX payment stock is booked at $212 and trades near $138"
description: "EchoStar took up to $8.5 billion of SpaceX stock at $212 a share for its spectrum, and SPCX trades near $138. A December merger decision and an FCC docket move the stake, while Boost Mobile, the business EchoStar kept, is the carrier AT&T and T-Mobile threaten to drop if Musk tries to buy it."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Deals"
published: 2026-11-13T18:21:51.498Z
modified: 2026-11-13T18:21:51.498Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/echostar-s-spacex-payment-stock-is-booked-at-212-and-trades-near-138
language: en
keywords: "SpaceX, EchoStar, Spectrum, Boost Mobile, Mergers"
---

# EchoStar's SpaceX payment stock is booked at $212 and trades near $138

> EchoStar took up to $8.5 billion of SpaceX stock at $212 a share for its spectrum, and SPCX trades near $138. A December merger decision and an FCC docket move the stake, while Boost Mobile, the business EchoStar kept, is the carrier AT&T and T-Mobile threaten to drop if Musk tries to buy it.

## Paid in paper at $212

On September 8, 2025, [EchoStar](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/echostar) agreed to sell [SpaceX](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/spacex) its [AWS](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)-4 and H-block mobile spectrum licenses for about $17 billion: up to $8.5 billion in cash and up to $8.5 billion in SpaceX stock valued as of signing [1]. That stock was priced at $212 a share [in the agreement](https://ir.echostar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/echostar-announces-spectrum-sale-and-commercial-agreement-spacex), and the FCC approved the sale in May [2]. SpaceX came to market in June at $135 [3].

On November 13 the stock traded about 2.2% above the IPO, near $138, roughly a third below the booked $212 [3]. EchoStar's annual report puts the second and final payment step around November 30, 2027, so the gap has a year to close or widen [2].

*Chart: **SpaceX paper accepted at $212 changes hands near $138** Bar chart comparing three SpaceX share prices: the $212 value set in EchoStar's 2025 agreement, the $135 June 2026 IPO price, and an estimated November 13, 2026, price of about $138, derived from the reported 2.2% premium over the IPO.*

*US dollars per SpaceX share: $212 is the per-share value of the stock portion of EchoStar's September 2025 spectrum sale agreement, $135 is SpaceX's June 2026 IPO price, and the third bar is estimated from the reported price on November 13, 2026, about 2.2% above the IPO ($135 x 1.022). No source states the traded price directly. [2][3]*

## The stake rides on AI, not phones

SpaceX's [third-quarter revenue reached $14.6 billion](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412&type=10-Q), and $7.56 billion of it came from renting out AI compute, up from $813 million a year earlier; net income swung to $4.4 billion [4]. Operating income was $2.8 billion against a $273 million loss a year earlier [5].

Two tenants carry the AI segment: [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic) pays $1.25 billion a month through May 2029 and Google $920 million a month, and Anthropic can exit from early 2027 on 90 days' notice [4]. [Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk) told the Baron Investment Conference the run rate could pass $100 billion annualized this December and $500 billion by December 2027; the stock rose nearly 15% in two sessions [4].

*Chart: **SpaceX's capex has outrun revenue in five of the last six quarters** Column chart comparing SpaceX revenue with capital spending each quarter from Q1 2025 to Q3 2026: revenue rose from $4.1 billion to $14.6 billion while capex rose from $4.1 billion to $19.6 billion.*

*Quarterly revenue and capital spending in USD billions from SpaceX's quarterly filings, retrieved November 13, 2026. Q4 2025 was not reported, so the six quarters shown are the consecutive periods on file; capex is capital spending as reported. Renting out AI compute is a capital-heavy business: the $7.56 billion of AI revenue in the third quarter sits on $19.6 billion of quarterly spending. [11][12]*

## Boost is the hostage

Musk floated a shortcut this week: if SpaceX uses a carrier's spectrum "10 times more effectively," it could "just acquire that legacy telco" [2]. The ready-made target is Boost Mobile, the business EchoStar kept, which owns no nationwide network and leases capacity from [AT&T](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/at-and-t) and T-Mobile [6]. Semafor's Rohan Goswami reported that executives at both carriers have separately discussed removing Boost from their networks if SpaceX proceeds with a takeover [6].

Buying Boost would buy little else: change-of-control clauses mean SpaceX cannot inherit EchoStar's wholesale deals without carrier approval, and [Boost's T-Mobile agreement expires July 1, 2027](https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/why-boost-mobile-isn-t-spacex-s-shortcut-to-an-mvno) [7]. EchoStar sits on both sides of the fight, paid in the rival's paper while owning the rival's target.

## December decides

Bloomberg reports [a SpaceX-Tesla merger announcement](https://theinference.org/article/spacex-and-tesla-boards-weigh-a-3-5-trillion-merger-over-xai-s-40-billion-gpu-lease) could land as early as December; special committees at SpaceX and [Tesla](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tesla) are working through terms, and no agreement is confirmed [8]. The combination would need approval from 50% of all outstanding Tesla shares, and incoming Texas Attorney General Nathan Johnson has promised "tremendous scrutiny" [9].

The FCC takes public comment in December on [SpaceX's purchase of Grain Management's 800 MHz licenses](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/verizon-t-t-mobile-shut-223000207.html), a deal the Wall Street Journal put near $8 billion [10]. [The Inference already priced a Tesla merger into SpaceX's bull case](https://theinference.org/article/spacex-s-731-billion-bull-case-is-a-sequoia-shareholder-s-model-and-it-now-prices-a-tesla-merger) on November 2; what changed since is the December timetable and the threat to Boost.

Two December catalysts decide EchoStar's paper: the merger decision and the FCC docket [8][10]. The later test comes in late January, when SpaceX's fourth-quarter report can be set against Musk's $100 billion December claim [4].

## Takeaway

EchoStar is owed SpaceX paper booked at $212 a share that the market marks near $138, and December's merger call plus SpaceX's Q4 AI revenue decide which number the second payment is worth.

## Sources

1. [EchoStar press release, EchoStar Announces Spectrum Sale and Commercial Agreement with SpaceX, 8 September 2025](https://ir.echostar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/echostar-announces-spectrum-sale-and-commercial-agreement-spacex)
2. [Yahoo Finance (TIKR), Roxanna Maglangit, sold... wait, use exact title](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-mobile-push-quiet-winner-160416586.html)
3. [Yahoo Finance (StockTwits), Arnab Paul, SpaceX Flight 15: Morgan Stanley Calls Upcoming Starship Test One Of The Most 'Significant Catalysts' In Company's 25-Year History, 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-flight-15-morgan-stanley-153740892.html)
4. [Yahoo Finance (StockTwits), Rexielyn Diaz, SpaceX Rallies Nearly 15% in Two Days as Musk Floats a $500 Billion Run Rate, 11 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-rallies-nearly-15-two-060553222.html)
5. [NAI500, Caroline Kong, SpaceX Q3 Revenue Jumps 161% to $14.6 Billion as AI Business Surpasses Starlink, 21 October 2026](https://nai500.com/blog/2026/10/spacex-q3-revenue-jumps-161-to-14-6-billion-as-ai-business-surpasses-starlink/)
6. [Yahoo Finance (StockTwits), Anan Ashraf, AT&T, T-Mobile Are Reportedly Ready To Boot Boost Mobile If SpaceX Buys It, 5 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/t-t-mobile-reportedly-ready-001548771.html)
7. [Light Reading, Jeff Baumgartner, Why Boost Mobile isn't SpaceX's shortcut to an MVNO, 3 November 2026](https://www.lightreading.com/satellite/why-boost-mobile-isn-t-spacex-s-shortcut-to-an-mvno)
8. [Yahoo Finance (Proactive), SpaceX and Tesla merger talks advance as December announcement considered, 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-tesla-merger-talks-advance-152100432.html)
9. [Yahoo Finance (Investing.com), Luke Juricic, Incoming Texas AG vows rigorous scrutiny of potential SpaceX-Tesla merger - report, 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/incoming-texas-ag-vows-rigorous-141144248.html)
10. [Yahoo Finance (Moneywise), Mike Crisolago, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile shut out Elon Musk's phone service. Now the FCC is reviewing SpaceX's plan to build its own, 11 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/verizon-t-t-mobile-shut-223000207.html)
11. [SEC EDGAR, Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SPCX) filing index, 10-Qs filed 22 October and 4 August 2026, retrieved 13 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412&type=10-Q)
12. [SpaceX, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412)


---

EchoStar's SpaceX payment stock is booked at $212 and trades near $138 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/echostar-s-spacex-payment-stock-is-booked-at-212-and-trades-near-138