US cell tower operators surge on SpaceX spectrum acquisition

Verizon Communications

09/10/2026 15:29

** Shares of US cell tower operators surge on Fri after SpaceX's SPCX.O nationwide acquisition of low-band spectrum positions Elon Musk's Starlink Mobile to challenge legacy wireless giants
** Crown Castle's CCI.N shares jump 11.2% to $76.61 and on track for steepest gain since Mar 2020
** American Tower's AMT.N stock up 7% at $178.34 and tracking biggest advance in two years; SBA Communications SBAC.O up 6.2% at $180.58
** Tower stocks soaring as investors bet SPCX's wireless ambitions could drive demand for more terrestrial infrastructure, while the news hammers those of US telecoms AT&T T.N, Verizon VZ.N and T-Mobile US TMUS.O
** Morgan Stanley said the deal is "incrementally constructive" for tower operators, noting that it could require deployments of towers, rooftops and small cells, while broader urban competition would require substantially more terrestrial infrastructure and spectrum
** With the moves, CCI down ~14% and SBAC down ~6.5% YTD, while AMT up  nearly 2% in 2026. That compares to S&P 500 Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts index's .SPLRCREC ~6% gain YTD 

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))