The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights:China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo,SK Telecom, Cellcom Israel and Yahoo!
CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL-Free Report), NTT DoCoMo Inc. (NYSE:DCM-Free Report), SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SKM-Free Report), Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL-Free Report) and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:
4 High-Yield Telecom Stocks to Cushion Your Portfolio
The telecommunications industry is identified as a major driver of the global economic recovery. Unprecedented growth in high-speed mobile Internet traffic, primarily for wireless data and video, has transformed the industry into a most evolving, inventive and hotly contested space.
Momentum Continues
Telecom operators globally generated approximately $2 trillion in revenues in 2013, highlighting slight improvement from $1.9 trillion revenues recorded in 2012. According to a research report by Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the global telecommunications industry spending rose 5% in 2013 to $5.1 trillion.
Notably, the U.S. telecom industry spending rate (6.6%) had surpassed the global spending rate (4.5%) in 2013. Interestingly, this reverses a long-term telecom spending pattern that prevailed throughout the world. The TIA has also estimated that the U.S. wireless operators will spend $36.3 billion on network infrastructure and equipment in 2014, signifying an improvement of 8% year over year.
5 Broad Factors
Currently, the U.S. telecom industry is evolving around five broad factors: (i) the increasing traction of wireless networks in the telecom industry and the consequent popularity of spectrum (ii) the projection of aggressive high-speed fiber-based network expansion especially for video/TV offerings (iii) consolidation within the industry, which is likely to continue mainly on airwaves shortage and attainment of economies of scale (iv) innovative product launches are expected in areas of m-Commerce, virtualization and cloud-based technology, high-speed metro Ethernet, to name a few and (v) ample scope for expansion as nearly a fifth of rural American households lack broadband access, as per the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Our Top Picks
While the telecom growth momentum is expected to be maintained in the U.S. over the near term, the major impetus is likely to come from the emerging markets of Asia-Pacific and the Latin American region. At this stage, we believe investors should choose stocks which promise strong dividend yield and carry a favorable Zacks Rank to cash in on future growth. Taking into account these factors, we present four such stocks for investors to consider:
China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE:CHL-Free Report): The largest telecom operator in the world with respect to subscriber count currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) with a dividend yield of 3.15%. China Mobile serves nearly 791 million subscribers of which around 14 million are 4G LTE-TDD customers. This implies the company has a massive growth potential for its LTE network which will help it to raise its average revenue per user.
The company has ample liquidity of around RMB73.9 billion ($12 billion). China Mobile maintained its 2014 capital expenditure budget at RMB225 billion ($36.5 billion) as the operator aims to speed up 4G rollout and customer acquisitions.
NTT DoCoMo Inc. (NYSE:DCM-Free Report): The largest wireless operator of Japan offers both 4G LTE and 3G WCDMA network technologies and serves over 22 million LTE subscribers. The company is expanding its global reach through strategic joint ventures and other alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America. NTT DoCoMo currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and provides a dividend yield of 3.05%.
SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SKM-Free Report): In Jun 2013, this South Korean wireless operator became the first wireless carrier in the world to commercially launch LTE-Advanced network using the carrier aggregation methodology. At the end of the second-quarter of 2014, the company had 27.9 million subscribers, out of which 15.4 million are LTE subscribers. This Zacks Rank #2 stock currently offers a dividend yield of 2.48%.
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL-Free Report): Cellcom is the largest wireless service provider of Israel, serving more than 3 million subscribers. The company offers a broad range of value added services which include mobile and fixed-line telephony, roaming services for tourists in Israel and for its subscribers abroad. In Jul 2014, Cellcom launched its 4G LTE network. Management is considering the fast deployment of LTE-Advanced network also. Cellcom currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 with a dividend yield of 2.14%.
Yahoo Completes Flurry Deal to Boost Mobile Offerings
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO-Free Report) announced that it has finalized the deal to purchase Flurry, a mobile app-analytics and advertising startup, as the search engine focuses on becoming a "mobile first" company.
In July, Yahoo had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the company, which was reportedly valued at around $200 million, in a bid to boost its mobile product offerings.
The deal will enable Yahoo! to refine its mobile product offerings to advertisers by developing more effective mobile applications and monetization solutions. The deal will thereby help Yahoo! to beef up its stagnant position in the mobile advertising space, where it still lags behind its main competitors.
Flurry, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2005, provides mobile advertisers with mobile analytics solutions to leverage customer data and offer customized advertisements through banner ads and video. Its technology monitors user behavior in applications by tracking taps, level completions, and buys in order to understand mobile consumer behavior.
As per Yahoo, Flurry's analytics solutions are used by over 170,000 developers across 150 countries and it is at present running on more than 1.4 million mobile devices worldwide.
Yahoo is making good progress on the mobile platform and the acquisition of Flurry would enable it to maintain this momentum by offering advertisers a better ad publishing and reporting platform to accelerate revenue growth across the mobile ecosystem.
Following the closure of the deal, the Flurry team will continue working at its present locations and its products will continue to operate and with Yahoo's support and investment.
Yahoo currently holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
About Zacks Equity Research
Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.
Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.
Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today.
About Zacks
Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.
Get the full Report on CHL - FREE
Get the full Report on DCM - FREE
Get the full Report on SKM - FREE
Get the full Report on CEL - FREE
Get the full Report on YHOO - FREE
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/zacksresearch
Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts
Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.
Media Contact
Zacks Investment Research
800-767-3771 ext. 9339
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101027/ZIRLOGO
SOURCE Zacks Investment Research, Inc.
Share this article