T-Mobile Shares Fall as SpaceX Reportedly Seeks 80,000 Cell Sites to Build Fourth Carrier

T-Mobile US Inc. shares declined on Friday after Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is seeking at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites to build a fourth national wireless carrier. The company is scheduled to report earnings on October 28.

T-Mobile stock is under bearish pressure. What is dragging down TMUS shares?

SpaceX Reportedly Seeks at Least 80,000 U.S. Cell Sites to Build Fourth National Carrier

According to Bloomberg, citing 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 those companies is Crown Castle. Bloomberg reported that these agreements would cement SpaceX's path to building a fourth national wireless carrier, with the deals potentially valued at up to billions of dollars. Crown Castle CEO Chris Hillabrant said on the company's earnings call, "You can assume we talk to all parties," without disclosing client names. Crown Castle shares surged as much as 10% in late trading, while AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile each fell about 5% on concerns over new competition.

This follows SpaceX's recent acquisition of low-band spectrum and Federal Communications Commission approval to launch 15,000 satellites designed to directly serve cellphones.

Musk said on SpaceX's earnings call this week: "We will build ground networks to enable widespread connectivity anywhere SpaceX and Starlink are permitted to operate."

Earnings Preview and History

T-Mobile is scheduled to report third-quarter results after market close on October 28. Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.91 and revenue of $23.14 billion. In the previous quarter, T-Mobile reported EPS of $2.99, beating the consensus estimate of $2.59. The company also reported revenue of $22.79 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $22.94 billion.

Key Focus: Postpaid Subscriber Growth, Service Revenue, and EBITDA Outlook

Investors will closely watch postpaid account additions, as T-Mobile guided to approximately 250,000 in the third quarter, following nearly 500,000 additions in the first half, with its rate plan modernization weighing on growth. Service revenue will also be in focus. T-Mobile guided to approximately $19.3 billion for the third quarter, growth of about 6%, slowing from the 9% pace in the second quarter; full-year guidance is approximately $77 billion.

Full-year core adjusted EBITDA guidance of $37.1 billion to $37.5 billion will also be under scrutiny, along with postpaid service revenue growth—which was 13% in the previous quarter.

T-Mobile Shares Decline

TMUS Price Action: As of the time of writing, T-Mobile shares were down 4.75% at $151.25, according to