Dish Network shares were up more than 9% in early trading Wednesday after the close of the federal AWS-3 spectrum auction surpassed expectations, boosting the value of the satellite company’s own wireless licenses considerably.
The AWS-3 auction closed Tuesday night with bids topping $16 billion, well ahead of the overall reserve price of the auction of $10.6 billion. Analysts have long said that the size of the AWS bids would set a floor for valuations for Dish’s own wireless spectrum.
Dish shares were up 4.5% ($2.95) on Tuesday, Nov. 18 as the auction wound down, closing at $67.85 each. But the stock continued to soar in early trading Wednesday, up as much as 9.2% ($6.27) to $74.12 per share. The stock was trading at $73.787 each at 11:01 a.m. on Nov. 19, up 8.7% or $5.93 per share.
