--- title: "EchoStar Q2 2026 earnings: A non-cash gain drives the profit swing" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/294677546.md" description: "EchoStar reported Q2 2026 revenue of $3.58 billion, down 4% YoY, while diluted EPS swung to $24.12 from a loss. This profit swing was primarily driven by a $9.73 billion non-cash deconsolidation gain. Excluding this item, net income was approximately $49.46 million. Operating income improved to $512.9 million from a prior-year loss, and adjusted OIBDA rose 143.6%. Despite subscriber losses across Pay-TV, wireless, and broadband segments, cost reductions drove operational profitability." datetime: "2026-08-03T10:22:41.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/294677546.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294677546.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/294677546.md) --- # EchoStar Q2 2026 earnings: A non-cash gain drives the profit swing EchoStar (NASDAQ: ECHO) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $3.58 billion, down about 4.0% from $3.72 billion a year earlier, while diluted EPS swung to $24.12 from a loss of $1.06. Reported profit was dominated by a $9.73 billion non-cash deconsolidation gain, although operating income and adjusted OIBDA also improved despite continued subscriber losses. ## Core financial results The quarter combined declining revenue with a substantial improvement in operating profitability. Operating income reached $512.9 million, compared with a $213.4 million loss, while adjusted OIBDA increased by approximately 143.6%. Reported net income attributable to EchoStar was $8.46 billion. However, the company said net income would have been approximately $49.46 million after excluding the tax-affected impact of the non-cash deconsolidation adjustment. Metric Q2 2026 Q2 2025 Year-over-year change Revenue $3.576 billion $3.725 billion Down about 4.0% Operating income (loss) $512.9 million $(213.4) million $726.3 million improvement Operating margin About 14.3% About (5.7)% About 20.1 percentage points higher Net income (loss) attributable to EchoStar $8.462 billion $(306.1) million Loss to profit Diluted EPS $24.12 $(1.06) Loss to profit Net income excluding the tax-affected deconsolidation adjustment About $49.46 million Not provided Not comparable Adjusted OIBDA $681.2 million $279.6 million Up about 143.6% Property and equipment purchases, including capitalized interest $92.3 million $746.9 million Down about 87.6% OIBDA and adjusted OIBDA are non-GAAP measures. Adjusted OIBDA excludes depreciation, amortization, impairments and other specified items from operating income or loss. ## Business and segment performance Pay-TV generated the largest revenue decline, while wireless revenue was nearly unchanged. The profitability picture was different: wireless moved to positive adjusted OIBDA, broadband and satellite services improved, and the Other segment’s loss narrowed substantially. Segment Q2 2026 revenue Revenue change Q2 2026 adjusted OIBDA Q2 2025 adjusted OIBDA Pay-TV $2.249 billion Down about 8.7% $600.7 million $663.4 million Wireless $929.0 million Down about 0.3% $50.8 million $(98.9) million Broadband and Satellite Services $316.9 million Down about 6.7% $100.2 million $67.7 million Other $91.5 million Up about 27.4% $(71.1) million $(337.1) million Pay-TV lost approximately 241,000 net subscribers, an improvement from the 261,000 lost a year earlier, and ended the quarter with 6.39 million subscribers. That total included 4.68 million DISH TV subscribers and 1.71 million Sling TV subscribers. Retail wireless lost approximately 118,000 subscribers after adding 212,000 in the prior-year quarter, leaving it with 7.38 million subscribers. Broadband losses also accelerated to approximately 59,000 from 34,000, and the business ended Q2 with 622,000 subscribers. Consolidated revenue also benefited from a change in eliminations, which were negative $9.8 million compared with negative $80.7 million a year earlier. Without that favorable $70.9 million difference, the decline in total revenue would have been larger. ## Revenue fell, but lower costs reversed the operating loss Service revenue declined by $238.6 million to $3.30 billion, more than offsetting an $89.8 million increase in equipment sales and other revenue. Total costs and expenses, meanwhile, fell by $875.1 million to $3.06 billion. The cost of services declined by $533.5 million, selling, general and administrative expenses fell by $81.6 million, and depreciation and amortization decreased by $322.5 million. These reductions more than offset a $64.8 million increase in the cost of equipment and other sales, allowing EchoStar to move from an operating loss to a profit. The improvement was not solely the result of lower depreciation and amortization. Adjusted OIBDA, which excludes those expenses, increased by $401.5 million. The wireless turnaround and narrower loss in Other were important contributors, while lower Pay-TV adjusted OIBDA remained a drag. ## The $8.46 billion profit was mostly a non-cash gain EchoStar recorded a $9.73 billion deconsolidation gain in Q2, which was the primary reason net income reached $8.46 billion. The gain exceeded total pretax income of $9.79 billion, demonstrating that reported EPS does not represent the quarter’s recurring operating earnings. The company’s estimate of approximately $49.46 million in net income after excluding the gain’s tax-affected impact provides a more restrained view of the underlying result. Interest expense was also material, rising to $509.1 million from $279.2 million and nearly matching the quarter’s $512.9 million of operating income. ## Cash flow and balance sheet EchoStar provided cash-flow information for the first six months of 2026 rather than Q2 alone. First-half operating cash flow was $228.3 million, up from $214.3 million, and exceeded property and equipment purchases by only about $2.6 million. First-half investing activities generated $811.7 million of cash, while financing activities used $1.78 billion. Financing outflows included $1.79 billion for debt redemptions and repurchases. Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash declined by $738.8 million during the period to $1.44 billion. On the balance sheet, cash and cash equivalents stood at $440.0 million, down from $1.88 billion at December 31, 2025. The current portion of debt, finance leases and other obligations declined to $1.45 billion from $7.32 billion, while the long-term portion fell to $15.99 billion from $18.66 billion. EchoStar also classified $16.82 billion of regulatory authorizations as held for sale, materially changing the presentation of its assets. ## Recent insider transactions The 10 most recent records supplied consisted of three stock grants, four derivative-security exercises and three sales. No open-market purchase appeared among these 10 transactions, and the disclosures alone do not establish insiders’ views about EchoStar’s outlook. Date Insider and role Transaction Reported value July 1, 2026 James II DeFranco, Director Stock award at $0 $0 July 1, 2026 Cantey Ergen, Director and greater-than-10% owner Stock award at $0 $0 July 1, 2026 Paul W. Orban, CFO Stock award at $0 $0 July 1, 2026 Lisa W. Hershman, Director Derivative-security exercise at $24.49 per share $244,900 July 1, 2026 Robert Stanton Dodge, Director Derivative-security exercise at $24.49 per share $122,450 June 12, 2026 Dean A. Manson, Officer Sale at $130.39 per share $1,303,900 June 12, 2026 Dean A. Manson, Officer Derivative-security exercise at $14.04 per share $140,400 June 5, 2026 Hamid Akhavan, Officer and Director Sale at $121.00 per share $6,362,906 June 5, 2026 Hamid Akhavan, Officer and Director Derivative-security exercise at $14.04 per share $2,006,555 June 4, 2026 Dean A. Manson, Officer Sale at $119.50 per share $1,195,000 ## Risks investors need to watch - **Subscriber contraction:** Pay-TV, retail wireless and broadband all recorded net subscriber losses. Wireless moved from subscriber growth a year ago to a decline in Q2 2026. - **Continued revenue pressure:** Pay-TV revenue fell approximately 8.7%, while total service revenue declined by $238.6 million. Further customer losses could continue to weigh on recurring revenue. - **Earnings quality:** The $9.73 billion deconsolidation gain was non-cash and non-recurring, making reported net income and EPS poor measures of underlying quarterly profitability. - **Interest burden:** Quarterly interest expense increased to $509.1 million and was nearly equal to operating income, leaving limited operating-profit coverage before the deconsolidation gain. - **Reduced comparability:** The deconsolidation and the classification of $16.82 billion of regulatory authorizations as held for sale make comparisons with prior periods more difficult. ## Summary EchoStar’s Q2 2026 results showed two different trends: recurring revenue and subscriber counts remained under pressure, but lower costs and improved wireless and Other segment profitability produced a clear operating turnaround. The reported $8.46 billion profit was largely an accounting result from deconsolidation, so the main issues to monitor are subscriber trends, the durability of adjusted OIBDA improvement, interest expense and cash generation relative to capital and financing needs. Find out more ### Related Stocks - [ECHO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/ECHO.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [EchoStar unit Hughes files Chapter 11 to restructure debt](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294677195.md) - [ECHO: $20.25B AT&T spectrum sale, $20B SpaceX deal, and $9.73B deconsolidation gain reshape results](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294676524.md) - [ECHO: Net income soared on a one-time gain, despite ongoing subscriber and revenue declines](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294679673.md) - [AT&T closes USD 23 billion purchase of EchoStar spectrum licenses](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294109476.md) - [EchoStar’s Q2 2026 Earnings: What to Expect](https://longbridge.com/en/news/293466914.md)