Musk's Starlink rival Eutelsat shares plummet 7% after report of SoftBank cutting its stake

Eutelsat, the French satellite company often regarded as Europe's competitor to Elon Musk's Starlink, experienced a significant drop in its stock price on Wednesday. This decline came on the heels of a report indicating that Japanese investment giant SoftBank had reduced its investment in the firm. As of 4:41 a.m. ET, Eutelsat's shares were down by 7.2%. This downturn followed a Reuters report detailing SoftBank's sale of 36 million rights, which equates to approximately 26 million shares, effectively halving its stake in the satellite communications operator. Eutelsat, which owns OneWeb—a satellite internet service it merged with in 2023 to improve its competitive stance against Starlink—has struggled significantly to capture market share from its U.S. rival. Currently, Eutelsat operates over 600 satellites, while Starlink boasts more than 6,750. Earlier this year, Eutelsat's stock surged more than 600% in early March, fueled by a push from Europe to enhance its technological independence amid decreasing U.S. military support to Ukraine. However, the company's shares have since plummeted over 70% from those highs. With Europe’s ambitions for tech sovereignty in mind, Eutelsat is viewed as an essential player. This past June, the French government made a substantial investment of 1.35 billion euros (approximately $1.57 billion) in Eutelsat, securing a 30% stake and becoming the company's largest shareholder. Both Eutelsat and SoftBank have yet to respond to requests for comment.