What's Going On With Dish Stock Friday

DISH Network Corp DISH stock is trading lower Friday amid reports of its struggle to sell assets and battle insider speculation of a possible bankruptcy.

By June, the struggling satellite-TV firm will likely meet its commitment to cover 70% of the U.S. with a 5G wireless network. However, sources increasingly doubt Dish's ability to finish its buildout, New York Post reports.

Reportedly, Dish's boss Charlie Ergen is desperate to sell some of the company's assets, trying to sell everything that is non-core and to finance financeable assets. Also, the merger Dish explored with fellow satellite provider DirecTV has stalled.

Ergen has also been spending more time in Washington, DC meeting with regulators to buy more time to finish it. 

Likewise, customers continue to cut the cord and ditch satellite service, and talks with Amazon.Com Inc AMZN about providing Prime customers with spectrum failed to materialize.

Dish's next deadline is not until 2025 and only requires that Dish cover 75% of the U.S. However, it will need billions because Dish must cover rural and challenging-to-serve regions.  

New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin recently noted that a 1 – 2 year extension would enable Dish to conserve or delay $2 billion - $3 billion of capital spending, giving it more runway to grow its consumer and enterprise subscriber base. However, he remained doubtful over regulatory approval for an extension.

Price Action: DISH shares traded lower by 1.48% at $7.32 premarket on the last check Friday.