T-Mobile Shares Lose Signal as SpaceX Reportedly Seeks 80,000 Cell Sites to Build a Rival Carrier

T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS) shares are trading lower Friday after a Bloomberg report that SpaceX is seeking at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites to build a fourth nationwide wireless carrier, with earnings due October 28.

• T-Mobile stock is feeling bearish pressure. What’s weighing on TMUS shares?

SpaceX Reportedly Wants at Least 80,000 U.S. Cell Sites to Build a Fourth Nationwide Carrier

According to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter, SpaceX aims to secure at least 80,000 cell sites across the U.S. and is in talks with at least one major cellular infrastructure company. One of the companies is Crown Castle. Bloomberg said the agreements would solidify SpaceX’s path toward a fourth nationwide wireless carrier and could be worth billions of dollars. Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said on his company’s earnings call that "you can assume that we’re talking to all parties," without naming customers. Crown Castle shares jumped as much as 10% in late trading, while AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile each fell about 5% on concerns about the new competition.

The report follows SpaceX’s recent acquisition of low-band spectrum and its FCC approval to launch 15,000 satellites designed to serve mobile phones directly.

"We will be building out our terrestrial networks so there’s broad-based connectivity anywhere that SpaceX and Starlink are allowed to operate," Musk said on SpaceX’s earnings call this week.

Earnings Preview & History

T-Mobile is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on October 28 after the market closes. Analysts estimate earnings per share of $2.91 along with revenue of $23.14 billion. For the prior quarter, T-Mobile reported earnings per share of $2.99, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59. The company also posted revenue of $22.79 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $22.94 billion.

What to Watch: Postpaid Subscriber Growth, Service Revenue and EBITDA Outlook

Investors will be closely tracking postpaid account additions, since T-Mobile guided to about 250,000 in the third quarter after delivering nearly 500,000 in the first half, with its rate-plan modernization weighing on the pace. Service revenue will be in focus too. T-Mobile guided to about $19.3 billion in the third quarter, up about 6%, a slowdown from the 9% growth in the second quarter, and to about $77 billion for the full year.

Full-year core adjusted EBITDA guidance of $37.1 billion to $37.5 billion will also be watched, along with postpaid service revenue growth, which was 13% last quarter.

T-Mobile Shares Trade Lower

TMUS Price Action: At the time of publication, T-Mobile shares are trading 4.75% lower at $151.25, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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