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OLDER Analysis Report
Sep 1, 2026
36 days ago · 100% complete
This report is 36 days old — newer filings and price moves since then are not reflected.
For AI assistants & researchers — machine-readable summary of this page

What this page is: Delvantic's full research page for EchoStar Corp. Class A Common Stock (ECHO) — AI-driven forensic equity research: mechanical valuation models (DCF, EPV, anchored-PE, scenario) plus three independent AI lenses (Quality / Value / Sentiment). Everything below is rendered server-side; you are not missing content that requires JavaScript. All scores are predictions and research opinions, not financial advice.

Our current read (analysis of 2026-10-07): Designation Low · Gem Score -76 (−100…+100 Quality+Value blend) · Quality -86 · Value -68 · Sentiment -68 (timing only, not weighted) · Composite fair value $-222.58 vs $86.44 at analysis

Page map (sections in order; each card carries a stable reference-name attribute you can cite):

  • profile-header / price-overview — company profile, live quote, market cap
  • extended-analysis — the core: three AI lens reads with findings, scores, and the analyst memo
  • future-predictions — our forward price-band predictions
  • market-narrative / ai-findings / gpt-critique — narrative context, cross-model findings, and an adversarial critique of our own analysis (near the end of the document)
  • Members-only sections (render as login gates for anonymous readers): price-history, income-trend, key-metrics, financials (statement tables), insider-trading. The analysis above is public; the raw data tables require a free account.

More for machine readers: site briefing at /llms.txt · any ticker resolves at delvantic.com/stock/TICKER · raw inputs are public-company filings and market data (via licensed data feeds); every model, score, lens read, and prediction on this page is Delvantic's own analysis.

EchoStar Corp. Class A Common Stock

ECHO NASDAQ
Communication Services · Telecom Services
Englewood, CO 80112, United States echostar.com Updated Sep 1, 4:00am
Price
$86.44
Market Cap
$25.1B
Employees
12,100
Beta
1.01
Avg Volume
4,273,873
CEO
Mr. Charles William Ergen

EchoStar Corp. Class A Common Stock represents ownership in EchoStar, a communications company that serves pay-TV, wireless, broadband, and satellite services markets. The company provides satellite television and streaming-based entertainment services through brands such as DISH and Sling, while also supporting mobile and broadband offerings under Boost Mobile, Gen Mobile, Hughes, and Hughesnet. EchoStar also develops and distributes digital set-top boxes and related products for direct-to-home satellite service providers. Its business spans consumer, enterprise, and connectivity-focused markets, with operations extending across the United States and international regions. EchoStar Corp. Class A Common Stock is used by investors to track a diversified communications business with exposure to subscription video, wireless services, and satellite-based connectivity solutions.

Runs with full report Generated: Sep 1, 2026 4:12am
Price Overview
Price at report time
$86.44
as of Sep 1, 4:00am (36d ago)
Change · Sep 1
-0.40 (-0.46%)
Day Range
$85.80 – $87.57
52-Week Range
$60.35 – $147.25
50-Day MA
$92.08
200-Day MA
$107.28
Volume
1,905,603.00
Right now · live
Log in to get the live feed
Members see the real-time price and the move since this report (over 36d).
Share Structure
Outstanding 290,451,972.00
Float 137,454,393.00
Free Float 47.3%
Moderate free float — 47.3% of shares trade freely, ~52.7% held by insiders/institutions
Reasonable but insiders still hold a significant stake. This can be positive (skin in the game) but may limit liquidity during sell-offs.
Price History (1 Year)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:36am (36d ago)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
The directional story — useful even when net income is negative.
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:12am (36d ago)
Revenue
The top line — total sales before any costs or taxes are subtracted. A measure of how much business the company is doing.
Net Income
The bottom line — profit left after subtracting all expenses, interest, and taxes from revenue. Reflects accounting profitability, but includes non-cash items like depreciation, so it isn't the same as cash earned.
Operating Cash Flow
The real cash generated by the day-to-day business — selling products, paying suppliers, collecting from customers. Calculated from net income by adding back non-cash items and adjusting for timing (unpaid bills, unsold inventory). When OCF consistently lags net income, the reported profit may not be converting to real money.
Period Revenue Net Income Net Margin YoY/QoQ
Key Metrics
TD Twelve Data statement HEX SEC filing
Industry comparison last run: Sep 1, 2026 4:10am
P/E · trailing (TTM) (Price per dollar of earnings over the past year — not a run-rate or forward P/E)
HEX
Stock Price / EPS (Diluted)
-1.71
Stock Price: $86.44
EPS (Diluted): -50.41
P/B Ratio (Price vs net asset value)
HEX
Stock Price / Book Value Per Share
4.28
Stock Price: $86.44
Total Equity: $5.81B
Shares: 287,589,000
EV/EBITDA (Total value vs operating profit)
HEX
Enterprise Value / EBITDA
-3.03
Market Cap: $25.11B
Total Debt: $25.98B
Cash: $1.88B
EBITDA: -$16.14B
Enterprise Value (Takeover price (cap + debt - cash))
HEX
Market Cap + Total Debt - Cash
$49.0B
Market Cap: $25.11B
Total Debt: $25.98B
Cash: $1.88B
P/S Ratio (Price per dollar of revenue)
HEX
Stock Price / Revenue Per Share
1.66
Stock Price: $86.44
Revenue: $15.00B
Shares: 287,589,000
EV/Sales (Total value vs revenue — works when P/E can't)
CALC
3.26
Gross Margin (Revenue left after direct costs)
HEX
Gross Profit / Revenue
37.1%
Gross Profit: $5.56B
Revenue: $15.00B
Operating Margin (Revenue left after all operations)
HEX
Operating Income / Revenue
-118.1%
Operating Income: -$17.72B
Revenue: $15.00B
Net Margin (Revenue left as actual profit)
HEX
Net Income / Revenue
-96.6%
Net Income: -$14.50B
Revenue: $15.00B
ROE (Profit from shareholder equity)
HEX
Net Income / Total Equity
-249.4%
Net Income: -$14.50B
Total Equity: $5.81B
ROIC (Profit from all invested capital)
HEX
NOPAT / Invested Capital
-45.5%
Operating Income: -$17.72B
Tax Rate: 23.2%
Equity: $5.81B
Total Debt: $25.98B
Cash: $1.88B
Current Ratio (Can it pay short-term bills)
HEX
Current Assets / Current Liabilities
0.42
Current Assets: $5.13B
Current Liabilities: $12.36B
Debt/Equity (Leverage — debt vs equity)
HEX
Total Debt / Total Equity
4.47
Short-Term Debt: $7.32B
Long-Term Debt: $18.66B
Total Debt: $25.98B
Total Equity: $5.81B
Rev/Share (Top-line per share)
HEX
Revenue / Shares Outstanding
$52.18
Revenue: $15.00B
Shares: 287,589,000
Book Value/Share (Net assets per share)
HEX
(Total Assets - Total Liabilities) / Shares
$20.21
Total Equity: $5.81B
Shares: 287,589,000
FCF/Share (Real cash generated per share)
HEX
(Operating Cash Flow + CapEx) / Shares
$-3.70
Operating CF: -$99.37M
CapEx: -$965.73M
Shares: 287,589,000
CapEx is negative (outflow) — added to OCF to get FCF
Div Yield (Annual income from holding)
TD
Last Annual Dividend / Stock Price
—
Last Dividend: $0.00
Stock Price: $86.44
Payout Ratio (Earnings paid out as dividends)
HEX
Dividends Paid / Net Income
—
Dividends Paid: N/A
Net Income: -$14.50B
Dividends paid not available in cash flow statement
Industry Benchmarks
Last run: Sep 1, 2026 4:10am
Compares ECHO against LLM-researched typical ranges for its industry. One research call per industry, cached indefinitely — every stock in the same industry reuses the same baseline.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:12am (36d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue $2.0B $2.0B $17.0B $15.8B $15.0B
Cost of Revenue $10.7B $10.1B $9.5B $10.1B $9.4B
Gross Profit -$8.7B -$8.1B $7.5B $5.7B $5.6B
Operating Expenses -$8.9B -$8.3B $7.8B $6.0B $23.3B
Operating Income $217.0M $189.6M -$277.9M -$304.1M -$17.7B
Net Income — — -$1.7B -$119.5M -$14.5B
EBITDA $1.4B $406.3M $1.3B $1.6B -$16.1B
EPS $0.81 $2.10 $-6.28 $-0.44 $-50.41
EPS (Diluted) $0.81 $2.10 $-6.28 $-0.44 $-50.41
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:00am (36d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Cash & Equivalents $535.9M $704.5M $1.8B $4.3B $1.9B
Total Current Assets $1.9B $2.1B $4.9B $8.1B $5.1B
Total Assets $6.0B $6.2B $57.1B $60.9B $43.0B
Current Liabilities $460.1M $422.8M $8.0B $5.8B $12.4B
Long-Term Debt $1.5B $1.5B $19.7B $25.7B $18.7B
Total Liabilities $2.6B $2.6B $36.7B $40.7B $37.2B
Total Equity $3.4B $3.6B $20.4B $20.2B $5.8B
Retained Earnings $656.5M $833.5M $11.7B $11.6B -$2.9B
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:36am (36d ago)
Metric 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Operating Cash Flow $632.2M $529.6M $2.4B $1.3B -$99.4M
Capital Expenditure -$438.4M -$325.9M -$3.1B -$1.5B -$965.7M
Free Cash Flow $193.8M $203.7M -$668.3M -$292.2M -$1.1B
Acquisitions (net) — — — — —
Net Debt Issued / (Repaid) $6.8B $2.0B $1.5B $5.4B $150.0M
Dividends Paid — — — — —
Stock Buybacks -$261.4M -$89.3M — — -$48.5M
Net Change in Cash -$359.9M $169.0M -$650.2M $2.7B -$2.4B
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Sep 1, 2026 4:12am (36d ago)
Metric 2022 2023 2024 2025
Revenue Growth +0.6% +751.6% -7.0% -5.2%
Gross Profit Growth +7.1% +192.5% -24.2% -2.3%
Operating Income Growth -12.6% -246.5% -9.4% -5,728.6%
Net Income Growth — — +93.0% -12,026.9%
EBITDA Growth -71.6% +224.9% +23.2% -1,092.4%
0Company Classification 1Industry Landscape 2Company Momentum 3Forward Projection 4aDCF Valuation 4bEarnings Power Value 4cAnchored PE 4dReverse DCF 4eRevenue-Based DCF 4fAnchored P/S 4gScenario Analysis 4hDividend Discount Model 4iBook Value Analysis 4jInsider Activity 4fCash Flow Quality 4gDebt Maturity Risk 4hMacro Environment 4iSector Intelligence 4jRevenue Confidence 4kSensitivity Analysis 4lSector Demand Cycle 5AI Investigation 5bThesis Evaluation 6Valuation Synthesis
computed not applicable 17 computed · 7 not applicable
Risk : Reward — upside vs downside from this company's own quarters
Computed 2026-09-18 02:42
-7.7 : 1 +1σ upside vs −1σ downside, from this company's own quarterly history
A +1σ run of quarters pays -768%; a −1σ run costs 100%. Ratio -7.7:1 (μ 43.9%, σ 197.8% , 16 pairs).
Older method (repeat-worst-quarter): -0.8 : 1
CaseGrowthMarginFair valuevs price ($86.44)
Bull — recovery -3% 12.4% $21.11 -76%
Base — stabilizes -6% 10.8% $12.79 -85%
Bear — keeps slipping -9% 9.2% $5.85 -93%
Stress — last quarter repeats -4% -38.7% $0.00 -100%
Upside — a +1σ run of quarters (v2) +50% -30.5% $-577.51 -768%
Stress — a −1σ run of quarters (v2) -50% -38.7% $0.00 -100%
The next quarters keep the trajectory of the worst recent matched quarter (ending 2026-06-30) — growth stays at -4.0% and margins bend by the same profit-vs-revenue ratio (×1.00). Stress is a trajectory, not a prediction — it answers "what if the ship's current heading simply continues," which history says is the case to respect.
Why this is appearing: this company files quarterly, so its recent trajectory could be measured rather than assumed — the engine matched Jun 2026, Mar 2026 against the same quarters one year earlier and found revenue -4.6% year-over-year. That measured heading is what the stress case extends forward. Of those, the stress case extends the worst matched quarter — the one ending Jun 30, 2026 (revenue -4.0% YoY) — not the average. Data measured through Jun 30, 2026 — this card recalculates automatically when the next quarterly filing is ingested. Companies without quarterly filings (many foreign listings) never show this card: with no measured trajectory, there is nothing honest to repeat.
Narrative Economics
The story the market is telling about this stock — the intangible X-factor (founder mythology, cult dynamics, TAM-of-imagination) that moves price beyond what cash flows alone explain. After Shiller, Narrative Economics.
No narrative profile yet for ECHO — it's generated by the pipeline (market-narrative step).
Growth Outlook
Analyzed 2026-09-01 05:13

The question every valuation on this page silently assumes: is this company likely to grow? Judged forward — the business, its category, the world — against what's already printed.

Shrinking Revenue is contracting ~5% a year against a category growing ~2.7%, and the shrinking piece (pay-TV) is still far larger than the growing piece (Boost/Hughes), so the top line keeps declining even as the asset story improves. conf 7/10
Share loss Category growing · Telecom Services is in a steady phase with ~2.7% median category growth and industry revenue CAGR of 2.8%; EchoStar is at -5.2% recent YoY and a -6.1% multi-year average, a ~-7.9pp gap. The company is not suffering a category downturn — it is losing position in a growing category because its largest segment (satellite pay-TV) is being substituted away from, while its growth segments are subscale.
Next 2 quarters
Shrinking
Pay-TV subscriber losses and the resulting revenue roll-off are mechanical over two quarters; Boost adds and Hughes cannot close a ~5% consolidated gap that quickly. Expect continued mid-single-digit revenue decline with lumpy, asset-sale-distorted EPS.
≈ inline with expectations
Year 1
Shrinking
Full-year revenue mix is still dominated by declining video. Even with wireless net adds and enterprise connectivity growth, the crossover does not occur this fiscal year; the credible best case is a slower rate of decline, not growth.
≈ inline with expectations
Years 2–3
Stalling
Structurally, decline should decelerate rather than reverse: the shrinking video base gets arithmetically smaller each year while Boost and Hughes compound off a larger base, and asset-light network economics improve unit profitability. That mixes toward roughly flat total revenue with improving earnings power — but genuine growth requires Boost to win profitable share against three scaled incumbents, which is not yet evidenced.
↓ below expectations
The creme: each rung's call measured against what's already printed (vs analyst estimates · vs guidance / FY consensus · vs price-implied growth) — expectations in print are already in the price, so only the variant margin can pay. Hover a rung's chip for the margin read.
Growth drivers
42 Boost Mobile subscriber base and revenue growth — Retail wireless is the one line item with positive volume momentum; every net add carries recurring ARPU into a base still small relative to pay-TV. Its growth rate is high but its dollar contribution is too small to flip total revenue positive inside a year.
36 Spectrum/asset monetization reshaping the capital and cost base — The narrative's 'hidden asset' leg is real in one specific way: monetizing spectrum and leaning on host-network/MVNO-style economics removes the obligation to fund a full nationwide build. That lifts free cash trajectory and interest coverage without lifting revenue — a margin/solvency driver, not a growth driver.
26 Industry-wide margin expansion (+2.7pp op, +4.7pp net over 3y) — Telecom operators are converting mature revenue into better margins via capex discipline and cost takeout. EchoStar can harvest the same mechanic on a declining base, which supports earnings power even while revenue erodes.
16 Hughes enterprise/mobility connectivity and direct-to-device optionality — Enterprise, aviation and government connectivity plus device-direct partnerships give a second non-pay-TV revenue leg. Real but slow-compounding and not yet scaled enough to move consolidated growth.
Growth risks
80 Secular pay-TV decline is the dominant revenue mass — DISH/Sling churn is structural, not cyclical — cord-cutting does not reverse. With the largest revenue block declining, consolidated growth cannot turn positive until the mix crosses over, which is years away at current rates.
70 Measured share loss vs a growing category — -5.2% YoY against +2.7% industry is a -7.9pp gap; volatility is low (0.009) and the average annual growth is -6.1%, meaning the decline is consistent rather than a bad-quarter artifact.
49 Wireless is a commodity fight against scaled incumbents — Boost competes on price in prepaid/value against three networks with better cost curves and bundled economics. Subscriber gains can be bought, but ARPU and churn make durable, profitable share hard to hold.
44 Debt load plus macro headwinds (10y at 4.73%) — Refinancing a heavy structure at these rates diverts cash from growth investment; a levered balance sheet on a shrinking revenue base narrows the window for the wireless transition to mature.
25 Earnings are unmodelable — signal quality is poor — Actual vs estimate prints swing wildly (0.14 vs 2.62 est; -0.71 vs -1.22). Asset sales and one-time items dominate EPS, so bottom-line prints carry little information about underlying trajectory in either direction.
The world is moving connectivity spend from linear video to mobile data and broadband — the exact direction EchoStar is trying to pivot into, but from the wrong starting mass. Two forces matter specifically here: (1) host-network and satellite-direct-to-device arrangements are collapsing the cost of being a wireless retailer, which favors an asset-light Boost far more than the old build-your-own-network plan; (2) linear video substitution is terminal, so the pay-TV cash engine is a melting-ice funding source, not a base. Macro is a headwind for a levered issuer: a 4.73% 10-year raises the cost of bridging the transition. Net world read: the strategic direction is aligned with where demand is going, the arithmetic of the current revenue mix is not, and the gap is measured in years.
Growth position composite -57
ShrinkingStallingHoldingGrowingAccelerating
10Next 2 quarters · Shrinking
10Year 1 · Shrinking
30Years 2–3 · Stalling
-57Composite (−100…+100)
A research prediction, not advice. Forward-graded: each rung is scored against the prints that follow it. Not an input to the GEM designation — track record first.
Claude Reading
Independent analyst synthesis · claude-opus-4-7 · generated 2026-09-01 04:35:30
Verdict Modestly overvalued — fair value $55-70 on base-case spectrum monetization; $86 already prices most of the bull case, and the $26B debt / negative FCF leaves a fat left tail. Avoid unless it re-rates below $60.

The raw numbers here don't describe a "pre-profit growth" company — that classification is simply wrong. EchoStar did $15.0B in 2025 revenue, down from $15.83B in 2024 and $17.02B in 2023: this is a shrinking legacy business, not a pre-profit ramp. Q2 2026's $8.46B "net income" on $3.58B revenue is almost certainly a gain on asset sale (the July 2026 gift transactions of 13M+ shares and the timing align with the widely-reported AT&T/SpaceX spectrum monetization events); it is not operating earnings and should be entirely discounted. Strip that out and the trailing four quarters still show operating losses on decelerating revenue (-5.2% YoY most recently, -6.1% CAGR). Gross margin has compressed from ~44% in 2023 to 37% in 2025. Operating cash flow was negative $99M and FCF was negative $1.07B on a $26B debt stack against $1.88B cash and a 0.42 current ratio. That is a balance sheet under duress, not a growth story.

The synthesis verdict ("Priced for Perfection") and the market-forces call ("distressed liquidation masquerading") are directionally right but they were written before — or without properly weighting — the fact that spectrum monetization has actually begun. The July 2026 insider gift activity (two blocks of 5M shares, two blocks of 1.5M shares — Ergen family estate planning, almost certainly) coincides with realized spectrum value events that management can now point to as validation of the sum-of-parts thesis. That's why the stock is at $86 and not $30. The thesis-evaluation model's -16 score with 72-weighted "spectrum floor" bull argument now has an empirical anchor it didn't have six months ago. The synthesis correctly flags the 5-10% historical success rate for these transformations, but the specific bear argument "fourth carrier has never worked" is being partially neutralized as EchoStar sheds the fourth-carrier pretense and becomes a spectrum landlord/MVNO — a materially different (and higher-probability) business model.

The contrarian case against every model here: this may not be a transformation bet at all — it may be a controlled wind-down where equity holders get paid via serial asset sales before creditors force the issue. If Boost is deprioritized and spectrum is monetized in tranches, the $26B debt becomes manageable and residual equity could exceed current market cap. But — and this is where I side with the skeptics — the $25.11B market cap already prices in successful execution of that plan. Book value is $5.81B, so P/B of 4.27 is not distressed; it's optimistic. For $86 to be justified, spectrum + Hughes + residual DISH cash flows net of debt must clear ~$25B in NPV terms, which requires spectrum realizations closer to the high end of published estimates ($30-40B gross) and continued satellite/pay-TV cash generation through wind-down. That's plausible but not the base case. The narrative-economics read of "unanchored, fragile, moderate intensity" is correct — one bad quarterly print or a stalled spectrum deal collapses this.

I partially agree with the synthesis. "Priced for Perfection" overstates it — $86 is priced for a good outcome, not a perfect one, and recent spectrum deals give the bull case actual proof points the models haven't fully digested. But I do not think it's undervalued. Insider selling (small dollar amounts but consistent) plus massive gifting (estate planning ahead of what?) is not a confidence signal. Negative operating cash flow with $26B debt in a rising-rate environment remains the core risk. Fair value is probably $55-70 assuming base-case spectrum realizations and orderly wind-down of pay-TV; upside to $110-130 requires the wireless pivot or premium spectrum sale to materialize. Risk-reward is roughly symmetric with a fat left tail (distressed recap wipes equity to $20s). Not a short given ongoing spectrum catalysts, not a long given valuation already reflects the bull thesis. If forced, I lean modestly overvalued.

GPT Reading
Independent reading · gpt-5.4 · generated 2026-09-01 04:35:47
Verdict Overvalued at $86.44 — absent a clearly monetizable asset transaction or rapid cash-flow inflection, fair value looks materially lower, closer to a distressed-asset case than a successful telecom turnaround.

At $86.44, the first thing I cannot get comfortable with is that this equity is being valued at $25.1B while the operating business, as shown here, is neither growing nor self-funding. Revenue fell from $17.02B in 2023 to $15.83B in 2024 and $15.00B in 2025, a two-year decline of roughly 12%. The quarterly run-rate keeps slipping too: $3.97B in 4Q24, $3.87B in 1Q25, $3.72B in 2Q25, $3.61B in 3Q25, $3.80B in 4Q25, $3.67B in 1Q26, and $3.58B in 2Q26. That is not a business proving a turnaround; it is a business shrinking at the top line while carrying telecom-scale leverage. Gross profit is still positive at $5.56B in 2025, but that only makes the operating line more alarming: operating loss of $17.72B and net loss of $14.50B on $15.00B of sales. Even allowing for huge non-cash impairments, a company with debt of $25.98B, cash of just $1.88B, current ratio of 0.42, and free cash flow of negative $1.07B does not get the benefit of hand-waving away accounting losses.

What stands out most is the mismatch between the “pre-profit growth” style framing and the actual data. This is not behaving like a classic pre-profit grower sacrificing earnings for expansion while revenue compounds at 20-30%; it looks more like a mature, declining revenue base trying to finance a strategic pivot with a stressed balance sheet. The 2025 revenue base of $15B against an enterprise value implied by EV/revenue of 3.26x suggests the market is effectively assigning nearly $49B of enterprise value to a company with negative operating earnings and negative free cash flow. That can only make sense if hidden asset value is both large and monetizable. Maybe it is, but the operating statements alone do not support this price. Book value is only $5.81B, so the stock trades at 4.28x book despite deeply negative ROE and ROIC. For a telecom with capital intensity still near $966M of capex in 2025 and no demonstrated earnings power, that is rich, not cheap.

The wild quarterly net income swings reinforce my skepticism rather than reduce it. A $12.78B loss in 3Q25 followed by a $1.21B loss in 4Q25 and then a $8.46B profit in 2Q26 tells me the income statement is being dominated by revaluations, impairments, or one-time items. In other words, the headline profit in the most recent quarter is not evidence that the business has turned. If anything, the better anchor is cash generation, and cash generation is poor: operating cash flow was negative $99M for 2025, and after nearly $1.0B of capex, free cash flow was negative by more than $1B. A leveraged telecom can survive ugly GAAP if EBITDA and cash conversion are strong; here, the data provided does not show that cushion. When the stock is already at $25B market cap, investors are paying now for a restructuring outcome that has not shown up in either revenue stabilization or cash flow.

The strongest case against my bearish read is straightforward: the market may not care about current earnings because it is valuing non-income-statement assets and strategic optionality. With debt roughly equal to market cap, the equity could still be worth far more than conventional multiples imply if spectrum, satellite infrastructure, and network assets have scarcity value well above book. The odd annual history also hints at transformative transactions that make backward comparisons noisy, so the 2023-2025 revenue decline may understate integration potential or overstate legacy business deterioration. And the latest quarter’s $8.46B net income, however nonrecurring it may be, could reflect real balance-sheet repair or asset markups that narrow solvency risk. If a strategic buyer would pay aggressively for spectrum or if management can monetize assets without destroying the operating base, then 1.66x sales is not obviously absurd for a collection of hard-to-replicate communications assets.

I still weigh those arguments lower because the burden of proof is now on execution and liquidity, not theoretical asset value. To change my mind, I would want to see at least two consecutive quarters with revenue no worse than flat year over year, positive operating income excluding special items, and positive operating cash flow that comfortably covers capex. More concretely, if quarterly revenue can hold around $3.6B-$3.8B instead of continuing to drift down, and annual free cash flow can move from negative $1.07B to breakeven or better without asset fire sales, then the transformation case becomes investable. Short of that, any catalyst tied to asset value needs to be explicit: a large spectrum sale, a refinancing that materially extends maturities at acceptable cost, or a disclosed transaction that proves equity value above today’s price. Until one of those happens, $86 looks like a price built on optionality while the underlying business is still deteriorating.

Grok Reading
Independent reading · grok-4.5 · generated 2026-09-01 04:36:34
Verdict Overvalued at $86 — $25B equity on $26B debt and −$1B FCF is a spectrum call option, not an operating franchise

EchoStar at $86.44 and a $25.11B market cap is a leveraged spectrum option wrapped in a shrinking telecom. Revenue has slid from $17.02B in 2023 to $15.00B in 2025 and is still falling at a roughly −5% to −6% clip (recent quarterly run-rate $3.58–3.67B versus $3.8–4.0B a year earlier). The sole bright print—$8.46B net income in the June 2026 quarter on a 237% margin—is almost certainly a one-time asset or spectrum-related gain, not operating earnings; the prior five quarters produced cumulative losses exceeding $14B, including a −$12.78B wipeout. Annual 2025 operating income was −$17.72B, free cash flow −$1.07B, and operating cash flow still negative. Gross margin near 37% is serviceable; everything below the gross line is broken. With $25.98B of debt, $1.88B of cash, a current ratio of 0.42 and debt-to-equity of 4.5×, the capital structure leaves almost no room for execution error. Enterprise value near $49B on declining, loss-making sales implies the market is capitalizing spectrum and a Boost Mobile buildout that has never demonstrated scale economics in a three-carrier U.S. wireless market.

The numbers do not support an ongoing concern valued on cash flows. Negative ROE, ROIC and ROA, an EV/EBITDA that is meaningless because EBITDA itself is negative, and a −6% revenue CAGR confirm secular pay-TV erosion is outrunning any Hughes broadband or Boost contribution. Capex of nearly $1B against negative operating cash flow means the wireless pivot is being debt-funded while legacy cash generation shrinks. Insider activity is noise—large gifts and small option-related sales—not a vote of confidence. Prior model labels of “pre-profit growth” and “priced for perfection” understate the problem: this is not a young compounder burning cash for growth; it is a post-acquisition conglomerate whose core DISH-derived revenue base is in structural decline and whose transformation thesis has produced no clean proof points after years of narrative.

The smart opposing case is straightforward and must be weighed. Spectrum holdings acquired with DISH are real, scarce, and historically valued by strategics in the mid-teens to low-twenties of billions; a full or partial monetization, Open RAN cost takeout, or carrier takeout could clear a large fraction of the $26B debt stack and leave residual equity. The June 2026 $8.5B gain may be the first visible step in that monetization, and the stock’s roughly two-thirds drawdown from its 52-week high already embeds substantial distress. Book equity will have jumped on that gain, so trailing P/B looks less punitive on a refreshed basis. If wholesale network economics work and Boost stops being a share donor, the fourth-carrier graveyard argument weakens. I discount this path because fourth-carrier attempts in the U.S. have a near-zero success rate, debt service and refinancing risk dominate near-term cash, and every quarter of −5% revenue and billion-dollar FCF burn erodes the equity option’s time value. Asset value that can only be realized in a forced sale or bankruptcy is not the same as investable upside at a $25B equity capitalization.

I would flip to neutral or constructive only on clear evidence that spectrum is being sold or leased at prices that materially delever the balance sheet, that quarterly free cash flow turns sustainably non-negative without one-time gains, or that Boost posts several consecutive quarters of accelerating net subscriber adds and rising ARPU while pay-TV losses decelerate. Absent those prints, $86 still overvalues a shrinking, cash-burning operator whose equity is a high-beta claim on assets already encumbered by debt larger than the market cap.

Big-3 Panel — where each AI stands
Each AI above independently stated a direction (undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued) and how strongly it believes it (conviction, 0–5). We combine those into a Bull-Bear Index on a 0–10 scale: 5 is neutral, 10 is maximum bullish (undervalued at full conviction), 0 is maximum bearish. We compute the score ourselves with the same arithmetic for every seat — the models never grade their own bullishness — so the three are directly comparable. Δ shows how far each seat sits from the panel average of 1.3; a large Δ marks the dissenting voice, usually the one worth reading.
Claude claude-opus-4-7 2.0
overvalued · conviction 3/5 · Δ +0.7 vs panel · self: 3.0
GPT gpt-5.4 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.3 vs panel · self: 2.0
Grok grok-4.5 1.0
overvalued · conviction 4/5 · Δ -0.3 vs panel · self: 3.0
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · separate lenses
Separate reads — Company Quality (is it a great business?), Valuation (is it mispriced?), and General Sentiment (how macro + narrative are pushing it), kept deliberately apart · 2026-09-01 05:16:12
Delvantic - Cairn AI
Pass at $86 - revisit in the mid-$50s 7/10
Great optionality story trading rich into a distressed balance sheet and a hostile tape - I'm not paying $86 for Ergen's spectrum lottery ticket.
The cruxWhether Ergen monetizes the spectrum/satellite stack at a rich price before the $7.3B short-term debt wall and cash burn force a distressed outcome - everything else is noise.
Forensic checks Derived mechanically from ECHO's filed financials — not from the AI lenses
Liquidity & RunwayTight Runway
DilutionHeavy Dilution
Earnings QualityAdequate / Mixed
The four lensesswitch a tab for its full read — score + evidence
Company Quality
-86
Shaky
edge √Σ 47 · risk √Σ 177 · conf 7/10

EchoStar (post-DISH merger) is a capital-intensive telecom carrying roughly $26B of net debt against $2.98B of liquid cash, with $7.32B of short-term debt already exceeding cash on hand. Revenue has actually contracted from $17.0B (2023) to $15.0B (2025) while operating margin collapsed to -118% and net income to -$14.5B in 2025 (impairments/write-downs implied). Free cash flow has gone the wrong way every year post-merger: +$204M (2022) to -$668M, -$292M, and -$1.07B in 2025. Runway math is roughly 11 quarters absent refinancing or asset sales.

Strengths 2
m40
Strategic spectrum asset base
Merged entity holds valuable wireless spectrum and satellite assets that provide optionality for monetization/asset sales - a real, if illiquid, cushion beyond the cash line.
m25
Meaningful revenue scale
$15B revenue base and 37% gross margin give the business real operating substance versus a pure pre-revenue burner.
Concerns 6
m88
Balance sheet distress signals
Net debt ~$26B, short-term debt $7.32B exceeds $2.98B cash, Altman Z -0.9 in distress zone. Refinancing is a live near-term risk.
m82
Persistent cash burn
FCF deteriorated from +$204M (2022) to -$1.07B (2025); three consecutive years of negative FCF post-merger with no visible inflection.
m80
Massive share count expansion
Diluted shares grew from 84M to 288M (33.7% CAGR) via the DISH merger; per-share economics severely diluted regardless of enterprise-level progress.
m78
Revenue contraction and margin collapse
Revenue fell from $17.0B to $15.0B over two years; 2025 operating margin -118% and net loss -$14.5B suggest large impairments and a business not scaling into profitability.
m55
Weak earnings quality
OCF/NI -3.97x and accruals -14.3% of assets; large non-cash charges dominate reported numbers, making underlying trend hard to read.
m35
No insider conviction buying
Zero open-market P buys in 12 months against $10M of sales and tens of millions of shares moved via family gifts/trusts - no insider is stepping up capital against the distress.
This is a distressed, over-levered telecom rollup where the merger math has swamped the operating story. Revenue is shrinking, margins are underwater, cash burn is accelerating, and the share count has more than tripled - the per-share business has gone backwards on every axis that matters. The spectrum and satellite assets are real and give the Ergen team levers to pull, which is the only reason I'm not further down the scale, but on the numbers alone this is a Shaky business with a live refinancing question and no evidence of a self-funding path. I would want to see concrete deleveraging or a spectrum monetization before treating this as anything other than a workout situation.
Verify before trusting this (6)
  • Maturity schedule and covenants on the $7.32B short-term debt and total debt stack
  • Nature of the $14.5B 2025 net loss - impairment composition vs. cash operating losses
  • Progress and terms of any spectrum monetization or partnership (e.g., AT&T/other carriers)
  • Capex trajectory for 5G network buildout obligations and FCC milestone commitments
  • Segment-level cash generation (Hughes, Boost Mobile, DISH TV) to isolate the melting-ice-cube pieces
  • Any covenants or triggers tied to Ergen family share transfers/trust restructurings
Valuation / Mispricing
-68
Rich
edge √Σ 35 · risk √Σ 117 · conf 5/10
Price $86.44 vs a skeptical deserved value in the $50-70 zone once you haircut for cash burn, dilution risk, and distressed leverage - roughly 20-40% overvalued unless spectrum monetization prints. attractive below $55.00

The e2e synthesis flags ECHO as priced for a wireless turnaround requiring the $8B+ spectrum stack to monetize in a saturated market. That is a heroic assumption to embed in a $25.1B market cap when the underlying business is losing $14.5B, burning cash, and has more than tripled its share count. Deserved value here is essentially an option on Ergen's spectrum/asset monetization minus the drag from shrinking pay-TV and a sub-scale Boost Mobile - a wide, low-confidence range that most reasonable bridges land below today's price.

Cheap signals 1
m35
Real hard-asset optionality
Spectrum and satellite assets are genuine and Ergen has a history of monetizing them; that puts a floor under deserved value and is the one reason this is not labeled Overvalued outright.
Rich / priced-in 4
m70
Priced for spectrum monetization
The $25.1B cap embeds a successful $8B+ spectrum payoff and a Boost turnaround; without a concrete monetization event, per-share fundamentals do not support $86.
m65
Distressed balance sheet not discounted
Altman Z in distress territory, $14.5B loss, accelerating cash burn - normally a stock in this state trades at a distressed multiple, not an option-value premium.
m55
Dilution has gutted per-share value
Share count more than tripled through the rollup; even if enterprise value is defensible, per-share deserved value has moved sharply lower and the price has not reflected that.
m40
Bull case requires two hard wins
Needs BOTH spectrum sale/lease at rich prices AND Boost gaining traction in a commodity wireless market - stacking two low-probability outcomes to justify today's price.
I read this as a rich option on Ergen pulling a spectrum rabbit out of the hat, wrapped around a business that is otherwise going backwards on every per-share metric. At $86 I am paying full price for the optionality with none of the margin of safety a distressed-leverage, cash-burning telecom should offer. I would want it in the mid-$50s before the risk/reward starts to look like a real asymmetric bet rather than a hope trade.
Verify before trusting this (4)
  • Any spectrum sale, lease, or network-services deal terms and proceeds
  • Boost Mobile net adds and postpaid ARPU trajectory
  • Free cash flow guidance and refinancing plans for near-term maturities
  • Segment-level EBITDA excluding one-offs to see the true run-rate cash engine
General Sentiment
-68
Headwind
tail √Σ 30 · head √Σ 112 · conf 6/10

ECHO carries a fragile, low-cult turnaround story into a mildly risk-on tape, but the tape is doing little to lift a name whose narrative is actively deteriorating. Momentum is strong-negative (-6.1% CAGR, -86.6pp over three years) and D/E has ballooned from 1.12 to 4.47 - that is the kind of leverage print that keeps generalist money away and forces the story to defend itself rather than compound. With beta near 1.0 and a communications-services domicile, the macro crosswinds are ordinary; the pressure here is idiosyncratic and narrative-driven. The only visible news pulse is a Sling college-football marketing push - promotional, not thesis-changing, and does nothing to address the spectrum/Boost monetization questions the story actually hinges on. Analyst tone is quiet rather than supportive, and 'hidden asset' turnaround tales without a fresh catalyst tend to bleed sentiment quietly. Net: a persistent, ordinary-to-moderate headwind - not a crash force, but a tape that keeps marking the story lower until a real spectrum or wireless catalyst lands.

Tailwinds 1
m30
Risk-on tape, ordinary beta
Mild risk-on regime and beta 1.01 mean the macro is not actively mauling the name; it provides cover but not lift for a story that needs its own catalyst.
Headwinds 5
m62
Fragile turnaround narrative, low cult
Archetype is turnaround-bet with moderate intensity but fragile durability and low cult coefficient - the kind of story that decays between catalysts and has no fan base to defend drawdowns.
m60
Strong negative 3-year momentum
-86.6pp over 3 years and -6.1% CAGR create a heavy tape memory; trend-followers are short or absent and dip-buyers have been repeatedly punished, keeping bids thin.
m55
Leverage spike changes the audience
D/E from 1.12 to 4.47 pushes the name into a credit-sensitive bucket; sentiment-wise it filters out quality-growth buyers and makes the stock hostage to rate and spread headlines.
m35
News flow is promotional, not catalytic
A Sling college-football marketing release is the only recent pulse - it does nothing for the spectrum/Boost thesis the price depends on, leaving the narrative starved for real fuel.
m30
Macro rate backdrop for a levered story
10y at 4.73% and stretched market PE 25.8 disproportionately weigh on a highly levered turnaround where equity value is a thin residual on a big debt stack.
My blunt read: this is a fragile turnaround story with no cult, terrible multi-year price memory, and a leverage print that scares off the generalist bid - and the only recent news is a marketing puff piece. The benign macro tape is the one thing keeping this from being a strong headwind, but sentiment-wise the pressure leans clearly down until a real spectrum or wireless catalyst forces a re-rate. Net: Headwind.
Verify before trusting this (5)
  • Any concrete spectrum monetization headline (sale, lease, partnership) that would harden the narrative
  • Boost Mobile subscriber trajectory and any wireless partnership news
  • Debt refinancing or covenant headlines given the D/E jump
  • Shift in analyst target revisions or a downgrade cluster that would confirm sentiment breakdown
  • Sector rotation into or out of legacy pay-TV/satellite names
The market-wide tape + this name's exposure to it (beta / sector / narrative durability). Context on the non-fundamental pressure — not a call on the business or the price. processId: detail-general-sentiment
Growth Outlook
-57
Shrinking
edge √Σ 63 · risk √Σ 128 · conf 7/10

The world is moving connectivity spend from linear video to mobile data and broadband — the exact direction EchoStar is trying to pivot into, but from the wrong starting mass. Two forces matter specifically here: (1) host-network and satellite-direct-to-device arrangements are collapsing the cost of being a wireless retailer, which favors an asset-light Boost far more than the old build-your-own-network plan; (2) linear video substitution is terminal, so the pay-TV cash engine is a melting-ice funding source, not a base. Macro is a headwind for a levered issuer: a 4.73% 10-year raises the cost of bridging the transition. Net world read: the strategic direction is aligned with where demand is going, the arithmetic of the current revenue mix is not, and the gap is measured in years.

Growth drivers 4
m42
Boost Mobile subscriber base and revenue growth
Retail wireless is the one line item with positive volume momentum; every net add carries recurring ARPU into a base still small relative to pay-TV. Its growth rate is high but its dollar contribution is too small to flip total revenue positive inside a year.
m36
Spectrum/asset monetization reshaping the capital and cost base
The narrative's 'hidden asset' leg is real in one specific way: monetizing spectrum and leaning on host-network/MVNO-style economics removes the obligation to fund a full nationwide build. That lifts free cash trajectory and interest coverage without lifting revenue — a margin/solvency driver, not a growth driver.
m26
Industry-wide margin expansion (+2.7pp op, +4.7pp net over 3y)
Telecom operators are converting mature revenue into better margins via capex discipline and cost takeout. EchoStar can harvest the same mechanic on a declining base, which supports earnings power even while revenue erodes.
m16
Hughes enterprise/mobility connectivity and direct-to-device optionality
Enterprise, aviation and government connectivity plus device-direct partnerships give a second non-pay-TV revenue leg. Real but slow-compounding and not yet scaled enough to move consolidated growth.
Growth risks 5
m80
Secular pay-TV decline is the dominant revenue mass
DISH/Sling churn is structural, not cyclical — cord-cutting does not reverse. With the largest revenue block declining, consolidated growth cannot turn positive until the mix crosses over, which is years away at current rates.
m70
Measured share loss vs a growing category
-5.2% YoY against +2.7% industry is a -7.9pp gap; volatility is low (0.009) and the average annual growth is -6.1%, meaning the decline is consistent rather than a bad-quarter artifact.
m49
Wireless is a commodity fight against scaled incumbents
Boost competes on price in prepaid/value against three networks with better cost curves and bundled economics. Subscriber gains can be bought, but ARPU and churn make durable, profitable share hard to hold.
m44
Debt load plus macro headwinds (10y at 4.73%)
Refinancing a heavy structure at these rates diverts cash from growth investment; a levered balance sheet on a shrinking revenue base narrows the window for the wireless transition to mature.
m25
Earnings are unmodelable — signal quality is poor
Actual vs estimate prints swing wildly (0.14 vs 2.62 est; -0.71 vs -1.22). Asset sales and one-time items dominate EPS, so bottom-line prints carry little information about underlying trajectory in either direction.
vs expectations: ~6m inline · 1y inline · 2-3y below
The forward growth verdict — is the business itself likely to grow (next 2 quarters / year 1 / years 2–3), judged against its category and against printed expectations. The full horizon ladder + creme renders on the Growth Outlook card above. Not a call on the price (Valuation owns that) or the tape (Sentiment owns that).
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Lenses kept deliberately separate — Company Quality (price-agnostic), Valuation (price-conditional), General Sentiment (non-fundamental macro/narrative pressure), and Growth Outlook (the forward growth verdict). The scores are not blended. Filing-level items (convertibles, lock-ups, customer concentration) are v2 — see each lens's "verify."
Price Prediction
Lower -28.1% v0.6.0 View full prediction →

When we made this prediction on Sep 1, 2026, ECHO was $86.28. We expect it to be $62.00 by Mar 2027, and we consider it great value under $55.00. This is an early model (v0.6.0) — the direction is more reliable than the exact price. Made Sep 1, 2026.

Price when predicted$86.28
Our estimate for Mar 2027$62.00-28.1%
Great value below$55.00
Price history shown (6 Months)

Blue is our prediction, starting the day we made it. Grey is a slower route to the same place — the same destination, taking longer. Black is the actual price, so you can see how we are doing.

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My Notes personal — only you see this
v1.1.760 · f4b58a28 · 2026-10-07 20:07:48