| It’s been a while, but Philip Cusick is back on top, rising one rung to make his first appearance in the winner’s circle since 2006; he’s also No. 3 in Cable & Satellite. The J.P. Morgan analyst upgraded AT&T from neutral to overweight in April, at $30.08, telling clients that consensus expectations were too low. In July the Dallas-based provider reported that second-quarter earnings per share had risen 10 percent, to $0.66, year-over-year; the Street had expected EPS of $0.63. By the end of August, AT&T’s stock had climbed 21.8 percent, to $36.64, and bested the sector by 5.2 percentage points. Cusick, 38, upgraded Sprint Nextel Corp. from neutral to overweight in June, at $2.51, largely on the Overland Park, Kansas–based outfit’s improvements to its network. The stock price zipped to $4.85 in late August — advancing a stunning 93.2 percent and trumping the sector by 85.6 percentage points. “He is an excellent stock picker,” cheers one investor. Looking ahead, “we remain positive on the wireless space given a combination of continued slow subscriber growth and revenue-per-user growth owing to a shift to smartphones as well as price increases,” Cusick says. |
Technology, Media & Telecommunications – Telecom Services: First
October 16, 2012
