SATS Dropped 10% In A Week. Have You Fully Evaluated The Risk?
EchoStar (SATS) stock is down 10.1% in 5 trading days. History of recovery post-dips is not on your side and there is fundamental risk – specific to growth, profitability, balance sheet and downturn resilience. Consider the following data:
- Size: A $21 Bil company with $15 Bil in revenue currently trading at $71.81.
- Fundamentals: Last 12 month revenue growth of -4.8% and operating margin of -3.4%.
- Liquidity: Has Debt to Equity ratio of 1.44 and Cash to Assets ratio of 0.07
- Valuation: Currently trading at P/E multiple of -65.5 and P/EBIT multiple of 44.3
- Has returned (median) 14.8% within a year following sharp dips since 2010. See SATS Dip Buy Analysis.
While we like to buy dips if the fundamentals check out – for SATS, see Buy or Sell SATS Stock – we are wary of falling knives. Specifically, it is worth trying to answer if things get really bad, and SATS drops another 20-30% to $50.27 levels, will we be able to hold on to the stock? What is the worst case scenario? We call it downturn resilience.
Below is a deep dive into EchoStar (SATS) downturn resilience – specifically, its performance vs the market during past crises? Turns out, the stock has fared much worse than the S&P 500 index during various economic downturns. We assess this based on both (a) how much the stock fell and, (b) how quickly it recovered.
Below are the details, but before that, as a quick background: SATS provides global networking technologies and services, including broadband, managed services, satellite communications, and hardware solutions for government and enterprise customers.
2022 Inflation Shock
- SATS stock fell 68.0% from a high of $30.27 on 12 November 2021 to $9.68 on 16 November 2023 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 25.4% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 27 February 2025
- Since then, the stock increased to a high of $83.57 on 9 September 2025 , and currently trades at $71.81
| SATS | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -68.0% | -25.4% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 469 days | 464 days |
2020 Covid Pandemic
- SATS stock fell 54.0% from a high of $43.39 on 7 January 2020 to $19.94 on 21 December 2020 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 33.9% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 26 August 2025
| SATS | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -54.0% | -33.9% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 1709 days | 148 days |
2018 Correction
- SATS stock fell 45.7% from a high of $62.25 on 19 June 2017 to $33.81 on 24 December 2018 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 19.8% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 2 September 2025
| SATS | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -45.7% | -19.8% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 2444 days | 120 days |
2008 Global Financial Crisis
- SATS stock fell 67.5% from a high of $40.16 on 14 February 2008 to $13.04 on 20 November 2008 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 56.8% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 9 May 2013
| SATS | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -67.5% | -56.8% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 1631 days | 1480 days |
Worried that SATS could fall much more? You could take a look at the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.