A dividend cut is not built into the stock price. If AT&T were to cut the dividend it would be a disaster. |
Cable companies will want to get into wireless and the only way to get into it is probably through Sprint Nextel. And Sprint Nextel has the leverage because the cable companies don't have distribution. |
Certainly it's odd to see a dividend that's more than expected earnings per share. |
I don't see that many deals that [add up] to a full television package. |
Investors don't give a hoot about what's going on (with legal issues). As a sideshow, it's kind of interesting, but this has pretty much played out in the investment community. |
It looks like there is a very expensive auction coming up. |
It only took three long distance companies to drastically drive down long-distance prices. |
It was holding the stock back a little bit. |
It's hard to figure out what P/E multiple to put on a company when you think earnings are going to decline forever. |
SBC can't fight back with long distance. |
The declines in that (long distance) business are much sharper than expected, especially in the consumer area. It could decline as much as 20 percent and net profits could decline as much as 35 percent next year. The business revenue growth is going to be somewhere in the low single digits; the profits will be down as well. The positive thing that came out today is the break-up. I think that will create value. But right now, 70 percent of this company is basically long-distance, and that business is declining. |
The sheer mass gives them such scale. |
They are doing whatever it takes to get it done. The employees should be appreciative. Without these moves, their days would be numbered. They would have had a declining cash cow, a non-growth company forever. Now they have a chance to grow. (Management has) transformed it into a new company. |
This is going to cause more price wars, minute wars, whatever you want to call it. It's great for consumers but terrible for the wireless companies. |
This rally will probably be short-lived. I still think there's a lot of risk in this sector. Growth is still slow so investors should be wary of jumping in to the stocks. |