EchoStar Corporation — financial distress indicators
Financial-health summary
EchoStar Corporation's reported numbers place it in the 'Watch' financial-health band (distress score 41/100). The main indicators are cash runway under 12 months, losses in each of the last 3 years and operating-margin collapse. In its favour: large market capitalisation — strong access to capital markets.
Stress by dimension
Share price — last 12 months
Indicators behind the score
Each red flag shows the evidence from the company’s own filings and the financial or legal principle behind it. Points add to the 0–100 score.
At the current free-cash-flow burn, cash covers ~6 months.
Going-concern standard: management must assess ability to continue for 12 months (ASC 205-40). Runway below that horizon forces dilution, asset sales or default.
Net income negative in 3 of 3 fiscal years.
Persistent losses erode equity and the capacity to absorb shocks.
Operating margin fell from -2% to -118% in two years.
Sharp margin compression signals loss of pricing power or cost control.
Revenue declined every year for three years.
Structural, not cyclical, decline.
1 severe and 0 moderate distress-related headlines in the last 6 months.
Headlines are corroborating evidence only; they are weighted lightly and never drive a flag alone.
Revenue vs net income
Cash generation
Debt vs cash vs equity
✅ Mitigating factors
- Large market capitalisation — strong access to capital markets.
📰 Recent news scan
- insolvency, chapter 11Why EchoStar Stock Crushed it on FridayYahoo Finance · 2026-10-02
- Why Gabelli Owns EchoStar Corp. (ECHO) for Its SpaceX ExposureYahoo Finance · 2026-09-30
- This Fund Sees EchoStar (ECHO) as a Special Situation With Embedded SpaceX UpsideYahoo Finance · 2026-09-30
- Is EchoStar Stock Underperforming the Nasdaq?Yahoo Finance · 2026-09-25
- DISH Teams Up with United Airlines to Provide Live Football at 35,000 FeetYahoo Finance · 2026-09-17
- What EchoStar (ECHO)'s NIGCOMSAT JUPITER Gateway Win Means For ShareholdersYahoo Finance · 2026-09-16
⚖️ U.S. legal pathway — Title 11, U.S. Code
Which chapter would apply?
- Chapter 11 — reorganisation. Management usually stays in control as debtor-in-possession; the automatic stay (§362) halts collection; a plan must meet the best-interests test (§1129(a)(7)) and the absolute priority rule (§1129(b)) — creditors are paid before shareholders, who are frequently wiped out.
- Chapter 7 — liquidation. A trustee sells assets and distributes proceeds by statutory priority (§§507, 726).
- Subchapter V (“Chapter 5”) is a fast track for small-business debtors under a statutory debt cap, but SEC-reporting companies are excluded (§101(51D)) — so it rarely applies to listed companies.
What typically triggers a filing
- Payment default or covenant breach lenders will not waive; a debt maturity that cannot be refinanced.
- Auditor going-concern doubt (ASC 205-40 / PCAOB AS 2415) — often itself a default trigger in loan agreements.
- Creditors can force a case with an involuntary petition (§303) if debts are not paid as they come due.
- Delisting after sustained sub-$1 prices or equity deficits cuts off equity funding.
Transactions shortly before filing can be clawed back (preferences — 90 days, §547; fraudulent transfers — 2 years, §548).
Frequently asked questions
What do EchoStar Corporation's financial-health indicators show?
As of 2026-10-08, EchoStar Corporation's public financial data places it in the 'Watch' band with a distress score of 41/100, driven by cash runway under 12 months, losses in each of the last 3 years and operating-margin collapse. This is a statistical screen of reported numbers — it does not mean the company is insolvent, has defaulted or will enter insolvency proceedings.
What is EchoStar Corporation's financial distress score?
41/100 ('Watch').
What works in EchoStar Corporation's favour?
Large market capitalisation — strong access to capital markets.
How are shareholders treated if a company enters insolvency?
In a Chapter 11 reorganisation the absolute priority rule pays secured lenders, then unsecured creditors, before shareholders — so existing shares are usually cancelled or heavily diluted. In Chapter 7 the company is liquidated and shareholders rarely recover anything.
Other Telecom & Media companies with distress indicators
- FreeCast, Inc. (CAST)Very weak 100/100
- Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (DRCT)Very weak 100/100
- K Wave Media Ltd. (KWM)Very weak 100/100
- Reading International, Inc. (RDIB)Very weak 100/100
- SurgePays, Inc. (SURG)Very weak 100/100
- Upexi, Inc. (UPXI)Very weak 100/100
Methodology
Score = capped sum of rule-based red flags across seven dimensions (liquidity, solvency, profitability, cash flow, sales trend, market signal, news). Ohlson O-score (1980) gives an accounting-based 1-year failure probability; Merton distance-to-default (Bharath & Shumway 2008) gives a market-implied probability. Financial institutions use a capital-based rule set. Recalculated every trading day from the latest filings, prices and news.