After falling more than 12% Friday, shares of satellite communications company EchoStar (SATS 10.62%) slipped another 3% through 10:30 a.m. ET Monday.
That's disappointing, because EchoStar's latest news is actually good: As The Fly reports today, the company has awarded Maxar Space Systems a contract to build EchoStar's next geostationary communications satellite, EchoStar XXVI, to "deliver robust coverage to DISH TV customers across all 50 U.S. states, including Puerto Rico."
Image source: Getty Images.
Good news and bad news
The problem for EchoStar is that not all the company's news is quite so good. On May 9, the company reported "the Chairman of the FCC sent a letter to EchoStar Corporation informing the company that the FCC has begun a review of EchoStar's compliance with certain of its federal obligations to provide 5G service in the United States." This sparked a sell-off in EchoStar stock, which cost more than $24 at the time and is worth barely $17 today.
Last week, the news got worse. As my fellow Fool.com contributor Billy Duberstein reported, EchoStar missed an interest payment on its debt Friday, raising bankruptcy concerns among shareholders.
EchoStar's gigantic debt problem
Are these concerns valid?
Well, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, EchoStar carries more than $30 billion in debt against cash reserves of only $5 billion, and a market capitalization not much more than that. Two-thirds of the company's enterprise value, therefore, is debt -- so yeah, I'd say anything that relates to debt and EchoStar's ability to repay it is probably a big concern for EchoStar shareholders.
The company hasn't been profitable since 2022, and has reported negative free cash flow since 2022, too, meaning the debt problem is getting bigger, not smaller. Long story short, there's good reason for EchoStar stock to be going down.
