Stock Market Today, Oct. 23: AT&T Slides on SpaceX Cell-Site Talks

AT&T (NYSE:T), a wireless and fiber telecom services provider, closed at $20.93, down 7.96%. Bloomberg's report on SpaceX's cell-site talks pressured the stock, and investors are now watching wireless competition and capital strategy.
Trading volume reached 84.6M shares, coming in about 88% above its three-month average of 45.1M shares.

How the markets moved today

S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) fell 0.53% to 7,623, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) slipped 0.21% to 25,955. In U.S. wireless telecommunications services and fiber broadband, Verizon Communications closed at $44.66, down 1.19%, while T-Mobile US fell 7.71% to $146.54 as concerns about carrier competition remained in focus.

What this means for investors

AT&T stock plunged after Bloomberg reported that Space Exploration Technologies is in negotiations to obtain access to around 80,000 cell sites, presumably to build America's fourth nationwide wireless network.

AT&T and its peers, Verizon and T-Mobile, have long operated on the premise that prospective new competitors would avoid entering the market due to the high likelihood of massive capital costs and low profit margins.

Now, SpaceX is blowing this theory out of the water. Additionally, with satellite coverage supplementing a terrestrial network, it would have a competitive advantage among customers who spend a lot of time in rural areas, likely placing further competitive pressure on AT&T.

These fears have also seemed to overshadow good news for AT&T. In its Oct. 21 earnings report, AT&T beat earnings estimates and raised its 2026 guidance. Additionally, NBT Bancorp bought 91,368 AT&T shares valued at around $2.23 million.

Admittedly, an added competitive challenge does not bode particularly well for AT&T. Nonetheless, AT&T provides a necessary service, and wireless customers tend to be sticky. Moreover, investors can buy AT&T stock now at an 11 P/E ratio and earn a 5.3% dividend yield, suggesting the Friday sell-off of the communication stock might be a buying opportunity.

Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.