Eutelsat's €1.5B Bond Deal and Angola LEO Monopoly Fail to Halt 24% Stock Slide

Eutelsat shares fall 18-24% in a week, trading near €2.40, despite €1.5B bond placement, 65% LEO revenue growth, and Angola monopoly. RSI at 34 suggests selling exhaustion.

For a satellite operator that just raised €1.5 billion in fresh debt, secured a monopoly in Angola's low-earth-orbit market, and saw its LEO revenues surge 65%, Eutelsat's stock trajectory makes little sense. Yet the rout continues. The shares have lost between 18% and 24% over the past seven days, depending on the data feed, closing Thursday in a range of €2.34 to €2.40. That is nearly half the year high of €4.62 set in late May.

Management has moved decisively to shore up the balance sheet. In February the satellite operator placed €1.5 billion in new bonds, completing a comprehensive refinancing strategy that analysts say has sharply reduced refinancing risk. On Thursday, one research house upgraded the stock to "Buy", crediting the improved debt profile. Total order backlog now stands at €3.4 billion, with more than half coming from government and commercial connectivity solutions — a direct beneficiary of Europe's push to reduce reliance on foreign communication networks.

On the operational front, a multi-million-dollar deal in Angola underscores the growth story. Eutelsat OneWeb, the company's LEO subsidiary, deepened its partnership with Angolan telecom Mercury through a new multi-year contract that expands internet coverage from low orbit to businesses, the public sector and offshore installations. The company enjoys a monopoly position as the only licensed LEO operator in the country. Mercury CEO Francisco Pinto Leite praised the stable connection, while Eutelsat's Africa head Philippe Baudrier cited "rapidly rising demand" for reliable networks in remote regions.

Despite these tailwinds, the stock remains under heavy selling pressure. The share price has tumbled well below its 200-day moving average, a key technical level. However, the Relative Strength Index on a 14-day basis has fallen to 34, signalling that selling momentum may be exhausting. If the current support level around €2.30-€2.40 holds, the recent sell-off could stabilise.

High investment costs remain a drag on earnings, but the refinancing has bought the company breathing room. The central challenge now: convincing the market to look beyond the short-term chart and at the expanding LEO backlog.