What happened
Globalstar (GSAT +13.43%) looked set to be a big star on the stock market Monday, as it bounced more than 10% higher in early trading. That was on the back of growing speculation that the company's technology will be utilized in a hot product made by a top Silicon Valley company. Sentiment on the stock cooled later in the day, though, and Globalstar closed slightly down.
So what
Said company is Apple (AAPL +0.11%). Not for the first time, speculation centers on the company packing satellite calling functionality into its upcoming iPhone. This speculation has been gathering steam, now that we're barely over one week away from Apple's latest "event," as the company calls its new product announcements. Many Apple observers believe a new model, specifically the iPhone 14, will be unveiled at the September show.
Fueling this speculation is the graphic Apple is using to promote the event; it features the company's famous logo depicted as a series of stars in the night sky. This could be an implication that satellite calling will be a promoted feature of a new phone.
In a post on Medium early Monday, well-known and closely followed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities posted a set of "survey updates" regarding the rumored iPhone 14. In this, he said that satellite functionalities were among Apple's test items prior to mass production of the model.
He did not specifically state that the iPhone 14 would have this feature, but did write that "The operator most likely to partner with Apple for satellite communication is Globalstar."
NASDAQ: GSAT
Key Data Points
Now what
Kuo's thesis is based on the fact that satellite communications is a specialized industrial/tech segment with very high barriers to entry. As a top name in this limited business, Globalstar is not only well positioned to help Apple in any potential satellite efforts, the analyst believes that it and its few peer companies "deserve investors' great attention."
Still, there's quite some distance between speculation and fact, and perhaps investors became spooked that the latest Apple rumor was spiraling Globalstar's share price too high.
