As previously reported, Morgan Stanley analyst Benjamin Swinburne downgraded Dish Network (DISH) to Equal Weight from Overweight as he now sees fewer likely buyers of its assets than hoped.

T-Mobile (TMUS) has acquired significant additional spectrum, reducing the potential for a Dish partnership, tax reform will help Verizon (VZ) as it moves further towards small cell deployments in lieu of adding new spectrum, and the FCC is also considering a new auction, Swinburne tells investors. Additionally, the DOJ challenge of AT&T's (T) Time Warner (TWX) deal suggests a more challenging M&A backdrop than assumed for AT&T, which he had viewed as potentially the most logical buyer of Dish's DBS assets, Swinburne added.

With Dish beginning to spend on its network in 2018 to boot, Swinburne lowered his price target on the stock to $55 from $75.