Tower REITs Surge, Telecom Carriers Slide on Bloomberg Report of SpaceX Talks for 80,000 U.S. Cell Sites

Shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile US fell sharply on Friday, Oct. 23, while cell tower operators Crown Castle and American Tower jumped after Bloomberg News reported that SpaceX is in private talks to lease access to at least 80,000 U.S. cell sites as part of an effort to build a fourth nationwide wireless carrier.

What Bloomberg Reported

According to CNBC and CNBC's live markets blog, both citing the Bloomberg report, SpaceX is attempting to combine its Starlink direct-to-device satellite network with ground infrastructure to create a fourth major nationwide carrier. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the discussions, said the Elon Musk-led company is seeking access to at least 80,000 cell sites across the country. Crown Castle was named as one of the cell infrastructure firms SpaceX has discussed the plans with, according to the Bloomberg report relayed by CNBC.

None of the available reporting details the legal structure of any prospective arrangement. The coverage describes SpaceX as seeking to "lease" or obtain "access" to the sites, but does not specify whether that would involve ground-lease agreements, equipment co-location, spectrum-sharing terms, or another structure. Bloomberg's sourcing is attributed to unnamed people familiar with the matter, and no contractual terms, timeline, or spectrum plan has been disclosed in the material reviewed.

Confirmation Is Absent

Neither CNBC nor Reuters, via Yahoo Finance, reports any on-record comment or confirmation from SpaceX, Crown Castle, American Tower, AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile. The entire basis for the market move traces back to the original Bloomberg report and its unnamed sources. That distinction matters for investors weighing how durable the trade is: the move reflects a market reaction to a single media report of private talks, not an announced deal, regulatory filing, or company statement.

How Stocks Moved

The premarket reaction was swift. Per CNBC's live blog, AT&T and T-Mobile US fell nearly 5% in premarket trading on Friday, while Verizon pulled back about 4%. On the other side of the trade, CNBC reported Crown Castle shares jumped 7.6% and American Tower popped 5.5% in premarket action.

Those moves extended as the session progressed. Reuters reported that by mid-morning, Crown Castle was up 12.6% and American Tower had gained 6.9%, both outpacing their earlier premarket levels. On the carrier side, Reuters said AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile fell between 3% and 4.7% during the session, with the broader S&P 500 communication services index down 1%. The real estate sector, which includes tower REITs, advanced 0.8%. Reuters noted that nine of the S&P 500's 11 sectors declined on the day, while the energy index touched a record high alongside rising oil prices.

SpaceX itself was not left out of the action. Reuters reported that SpaceX shares gained 1.2% in the session. Separately, CNBC reported that PhillipCapital double-upgraded SpaceX shares to buy from sell and raised its price target to $250 from $75, citing what the firm described as surprising gains in SpaceX's AI business.

Market Context

The telecom sector's reaction unfolded inside a broader risk-off tape. Reuters reported that the S&P 500 and Nasdaq touched their lowest levels in five weeks on Friday, with caution prevailing after a sharp selloff in AI-linked stocks that had pushed the Nasdaq down nearly 3% on Thursday. As of 9:53 a.m. ET on Oct. 23, per Reuters data relayed through Yahoo Finance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 535.54 points, or 1.01%, to 52,332.44; the S&P 500 had lost 29.14 points, or 0.38%, to 7,634.09; and the Nasdaq Composite was off 23.61 points, or 0.08%, to 25,986.76. The telecom-specific selling and tower-stock rally therefore occurred against a backdrop of already jittery sentiment tied to AI-stock weakness, rather than in isolation.

Reading the Reaction

In our interpretation, the divergence between falling carrier stocks and rising tower REITs reflects a market judgment about who stands to gain or lose if SpaceX's reported ambitions materialize. Carriers facing even the possibility of a well-capitalized fourth nationwide competitor backed by Musk's satellite infrastructure saw their shares marked down on competitive-threat concerns, as Reuters characterized it: traders are pricing in fears that intensified competition could erode AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile's market share. Tower operators, conversely, stand to benefit from any scenario in which a new carrier needs to lease physical site access, which is why Crown Castle and American Tower rallied even as the broader market sold off and nine of 11 S&P sectors declined. This remains a reaction to a single sourced report rather than a confirmed commercial outcome, and the scale of any eventual financial impact, positive or negative, has not been quantified by any of the parties involved.

Bottom Line

Bloomberg's report of SpaceX seeking access to 80,000 U.S. cell sites moved telecom and tower stocks sharply on Friday, with carriers sliding and REITs rallying, according to CNBC and Reuters. No company named in the reporting, including SpaceX, Crown Castle, American Tower, AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile, has confirmed, denied or detailed the talks, and the structure, spectrum requirements, and timeline of any arrangement remain undisclosed in the available reporting.