Latest news with #Lumen
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AT&T Soars 52.2% in a Year: Should You Invest in T Stock Now?
AT&T, Inc. T has gained 52.2% over the past year compared with the Wireless National industry's growth of 27.6%. The stock has also outperformed the Zacks Computer & Technology sector and the S&P 500's growth of 12% and 12.1%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The company has outperformed its peers like Verizon Communications Inc. VZ and T-Mobile US, Inc. TMUS. Verizon has gained 6.1%, while TMUS has increased 36.6% during this period. AT&T expects to continue investing in key areas and adjust its business according to the evolving market scenario to fuel long-term growth, while maintaining a healthy dividend payment and actively pruning debt. The company is adopting prpl Foundation's Life Cycle Management (LCM) to advance its broadband innovation initiatives. The prplware LCM is a software framework that effectively optimizes containerized application deployment on broadband gateways, utilizing the high computing capabilities of ARM-based chipsets. AT&T has steadily deployed the LCM solution over the past few years, and currently, around 12 million broadband gateways are integrated with software with ARM-based chipsets eliminates the high CPU and memory usage issue of legacy containerized applications. The advanced system allows many applications to run concurrently in broadband gateways. This significantly improves efficiency. Moreover, prplware software supports multi-carrier application deployment, empowering service providers to offer several options to clients and developers. AT&T plans to increase its LCM adoption to foster innovation across the company is set to acquire Lumen's fiber connectivity business for $5.75 billion. Following the completion of the buyout, AT&T will acquire 1 million fiber customers and 4 million fiber locations across 11 U.S. states. Integration of Lumen's customer base and fiber deployment capabilities will significantly boost AT&T's competitive edge in the fiber broadband domain. The company is aiming to expand its fiber network to approximately 60 million locations by 2030, almost doubling its current reach. Its expansion will target major metro areas such as Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Orlando, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, Seattle and more. The company's strategy of continuous innovation, adoption of leading-edge technology, combined with strategic acquisitions, is expected to foster long-term growth. As of March 31, 2025, AT&T had $6.88 billion of cash and cash equivalents with long-term debt of $117.26 billion. At the end of the first quarter, the company had a current ratio of 0.7 compared to the preceding quarter's 0.67. A current ratio of less than 1 suggests that the company might face difficulty paying off its short-term obligations easily. Moreover, a high debt burden makes the company more vulnerable to economic downturns and hinders investment in growth a saturated U.S. wireless market, the spectrum crunch has become a major issue in the U.S. telecom industry. Most of the carriers are finding it increasingly difficult to manage mobile data traffic, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, intensifying competition with other industry giants like Verizon and T-Mobile is weighing on margins. T-Mobile's aggressive push for 5G expansion, solid cash flow growth and several strategic acquisitions to boost competitive edge is a concern for AT&T. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research AT&T is currently witnessing a downtrend in estimate revisions. Earnings estimates for 2025 have declined 3.27% to $2.07 over the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 has decreased 0.88% to $2.24. The negative estimate revision portrays bearish sentiments about the stock's growth potential. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research From a valuation standpoint, AT&T appears to be trading relatively cheaper compared to the industry but trading above its mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company shares currently trade at 13.04 forward earnings, lower than 13.72 for the industry but above the stock's mean of 10.16. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research With a customer-centric business model, AT&T is witnessing healthy momentum in its postpaid wireless business with a lower churn rate and increased adoption of higher-tier unlimited plans. Strong focus on expanding fiber broadband network infrastructure through innovation and strategic acquisition is a positive fierce competition in the wireless market with a relatively fixed pool of customers is putting pressure on pricing. High debt burden remains a concern. Downtrend in estimate revision highlights growing investor skepticism. With a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), AT&T appears to be treading in the middle of the road, and new investors could be better off if they trade with caution. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AT&T Inc. (T) : Free Stock Analysis Report Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report T-Mobile US, Inc. (TMUS) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Lumen Powers JUNO Trans-Pacific Cable U.S. Landing with High-Capacity Backhaul Network
Connection gives enterprises direct, low-latency pathway between U.S. and key Asian markets DENVER, June 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With undersea cables accounting for more than 99% of international data traffic, a robust terrestrial network is vital for ensuring seamless, high-capacity data flows across continents. Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) announced it will provide the terrestrial backhaul connectivity for the JUNO Trans-Pacific Cable System, the highest-capacity trans-Pacific cable linking Japan and the United States. Lumen's fiber network will carry traffic from the cable's U.S. landing point in Grover Beach, Ca., to two major points of presence (PoPs) in San Jose and Los Angeles— helping to revolutionize business operations and technological advancements in both countries. "An undersea cable can carry massive amounts of data across oceans, but it's the strong terrestrial network that completes the journey," said Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, Lumen EVP and Chief Revenue Officer. "Lumen designed and developed a dark fiber solution the JUNO system could quickly deploy to meet their launch date. Our critical fiber backbone enables the seamless high-capacity transport from Asia into the heart of the U.S. digital economy. This level of control, scale, and performance is exactly what global enterprises and cloud providers need to support the next generation of AI and data-driven innovation." The JUNO cable, operated by Seren Juno Network Co., Ltd., is 10,000 kilometers long and engineered to deliver up to 350 Tbps across 20 fiber pairs, using next-generation Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) technology. Lumen's dark fiber backhaul gives JUNO custom, private network configurations. Connecting JUNO at the cable landing station to two critical PoPs, helps data reach major cloud hubs, data centers and enterprise networks across the U.S. "Our partnership with Lumen is a critical milestone in delivering on JUNO's promise to revolutionize trans-Pacific data transport," said Yoshio Sato, CEO of Seren Juno Network Co., Ltd. "Lumen's reach into major U.S. cloud hubs and its proven expertise in high-capacity fiber infrastructure make it an ideal partner as we bring the world closer through digital innovation." Businesses in both Japan and the US stand to benefit significantly from the increased bandwidth and reliable connections. Together, JUNO's cable system and Lumen's terrestrial network will create a powerful bridge between Asia and North America—supporting next-gen applications, enabling global scale for AI, and helping enterprises navigate the digital economy with agility and speed. Connecting directly into cloud regions, edge compute sites, and major data centers is only possible with strong terrestrial backhaul. Learn more about Lumen Dark Fiber services. About Lumen Technologies Lumen is unleashing the world's digital potential. We ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. As the trusted network for AI, Lumen uses the scale of our network to help companies realize AI's full potential. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, managed service, and digital platform capabilities, we meet our customers' needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, X: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies. View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Stephanie MeisseLumen
Business Wire
10 hours ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Lumen Powers JUNO Trans-Pacific Cable U.S. Landing with High-Capacity Backhaul Network
DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With undersea cables accounting for more than 99% of international data traffic, a robust terrestrial network is vital for ensuring seamless, high-capacity data flows across continents. Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) announced it will provide the terrestrial backhaul connectivity for the JUNO Trans-Pacific Cable System, the highest-capacity trans-Pacific cable linking Japan and the United States. Lumen's fiber network will carry traffic from the cable's U.S. landing point in Grover Beach, Ca., to two major points of presence (PoPs) in San Jose and Los Angeles— helping to revolutionize business operations and technological advancements in both countries. An undersea cable can carry massive amounts of data across oceans, but it's the strong terrestrial network that completes the journey. Share 'An undersea cable can carry massive amounts of data across oceans, but it's the strong terrestrial network that completes the journey,' said Ashley Haynes-Gaspar, Lumen EVP and Chief Revenue Officer. 'Lumen designed and developed a dark fiber solution the JUNO system could quickly deploy to meet their launch date. Our critical fiber backbone enables the seamless high-capacity transport from Asia into the heart of the U.S. digital economy. This level of control, scale, and performance is exactly what global enterprises and cloud providers need to support the next generation of AI and data-driven innovation.' The JUNO cable, operated by Seren Juno Network Co., Ltd., is 10,000 kilometers long and engineered to deliver up to 350 Tbps across 20 fiber pairs, using next-generation Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) technology. Lumen's dark fiber backhaul gives JUNO custom, private network configurations. Connecting JUNO at the cable landing station to two critical PoPs, helps data reach major cloud hubs, data centers and enterprise networks across the U.S. 'Our partnership with Lumen is a critical milestone in delivering on JUNO's promise to revolutionize trans-Pacific data transport,' said Yoshio Sato, CEO of Seren Juno Network Co., Ltd. 'Lumen's reach into major U.S. cloud hubs and its proven expertise in high-capacity fiber infrastructure make it an ideal partner as we bring the world closer through digital innovation.' Businesses in both Japan and the US stand to benefit significantly from the increased bandwidth and reliable connections. Together, JUNO's cable system and Lumen's terrestrial network will create a powerful bridge between Asia and North America—supporting next-gen applications, enabling global scale for AI, and helping enterprises navigate the digital economy with agility and speed. Connecting directly into cloud regions, edge compute sites, and major data centers is only possible with strong terrestrial backhaul. Learn more about Lumen Dark Fiber services. About Lumen Technologies Lumen is unleashing the world's digital potential. We ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. As the trusted network for AI, Lumen uses the scale of our network to help companies realize AI's full potential. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, managed service, and digital platform capabilities, we meet our customers' needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, X: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Q1 Rundown: U.S. Cellular (NYSE:USM) Vs Other Terrestrial Telecommunication Services Stocks
As the Q1 earnings season wraps, let's dig into this quarter's best and worst performers in the terrestrial telecommunication services industry, including U.S. Cellular (NYSE:USM) and its peers. Terrestrial telecommunication companies face an uphill battle, as they mostly sell into a deflationary market, where the price of moving a bit tends to decrease over time with better technology. Without dependable volume growth, revenue growth could be challenged. Unfortunately, broadband penetration in their core US market is quite high already. On the other hand, data consumption from streaming entertainment and 5G expansion could provide a floor on growth for the next number of years. As if that wasn't enough to worry about, competition is intense, with larger telecom providers and hyperscalers expanding their own networks. The 4 terrestrial telecommunication services stocks we track reported a slower Q1. As a group, revenues missed analysts' consensus estimates by 1.1%. While some terrestrial telecommunication services stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 3.1% since the latest earnings results. Operating as a majority-owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems since its founding in 1983, US Cellular (NYSE:USM) is a regional wireless telecommunications provider serving 4.6 million customers across 21 states with mobile phone, internet, and IoT services. U.S. Cellular reported revenues of $891 million, down 6.2% year on year. This print fell short of analysts' expectations by 3.1%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts' EPS estimates. "In the first quarter, we continued to work towards executing on our 2025 priorities which include successfully closing on the previously announced sale of the wireless business, while remaining focused on investing in a strong customer experience and operating our business efficiently," said Laurent Therivel, UScellular President and CEO. U.S. Cellular delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 8.5% since reporting and currently trades at $62.81. Read our full report on U.S. Cellular here, it's free. With approximately 350,000 route miles of fiber optic cable spanning North America and the Asia Pacific, Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) operates a vast fiber optic network that provides communications, cloud connectivity, security, and IT solutions to businesses and consumers. Lumen reported revenues of $3.18 billion, down 3.3% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 1.9%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts' EPS estimates. Lumen pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 13.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $3.98. Is now the time to buy Lumen? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free. Operating primarily through its majority-owned subsidiary UScellular and wholly-owned TDS Telecom, Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) provides wireless, broadband, video, and voice communications services to 4.6 million wireless and 1.2 million broadband customers across the United States. Telephone and Data Systems reported revenues of $1.15 billion, down 8.6% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 2.1%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts' EPS estimates. Telephone and Data Systems delivered the slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 6.8% since the results and currently trades at $35.04. Read our full analysis of Telephone and Data Systems's results here. Operating a massive network spanning 20,000 miles of fiber optic cable and connecting to over 3,200 buildings worldwide, Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) provides high-speed Internet access, private network services, and data center colocation to businesses and bandwidth-intensive organizations across 54 countries. Cogent reported revenues of $247 million, down 7.2% year on year. This result missed analysts' expectations by 1%. All in all, it was a slower quarter for the company. The stock is down 10.1% since reporting and currently trades at $47.75. Read our full, actionable report on Cogent here, it's free. Thanks to the Fed's rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has been on a steady path downward, easing back toward that 2% sweet spot. Fortunately (miraculously to some), all this tightening didn't send the economy tumbling into a recession, so here we are, cautiously celebrating a soft landing. The cherry on top? Recent rate cuts (half a point in September 2024, a quarter in November) have propped up markets, especially after Trump's November win lit a fire under major indices and sent them to all-time highs. However, there's still plenty to ponder — tariffs, corporate tax cuts, and what 2025 might hold for the economy. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Join Paid Stock Investor Research Help us make StockStory more helpful to investors like yourself. Join our paid user research session and receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your opinions. Sign up here. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Will Lumen Technologies' Asset Sale Spark a Recovery in Its Stock?
Lumen will sell its mass markets fiber business to AT&T for $5.75 billion. The telecom will likely use the proceeds to reduce debt and invest in its network. The question for investors is whether that move will draw more investors to Lumen stock. 10 stocks we like better than Lumen Technologies › Telecom specialist Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) just announced the sale of its mass-market fiber business to AT&T for $5.75 billion. That move continues the transformation which began last summer when it partnered with Microsoft to leverage its existing network to strengthen connectivity among Microsoft's data centers. It has also agreed to provide similar services to Amazon and Meta Platforms. The sale of the mass markets fiber business seems to confirm that Lumen is pivoting toward business and away from the consumer market. The question for investors is whether that deal will boost Lumen's stock over the long term. According to CEO Kate Johnson, the company will receive net proceeds of $4.8 billion. Lumen can use those funds to reduce its debt or support its growing need to increase its capital expenditures as the company tries to reinvent itself from what had been a declining wireline telco business. Still, one has to assume Lumen will focus on debt reduction at some level. As of the first quarter of 2025, it holds $17.3 billion in long-term debt. The company's book value is only $289 million, so that liability has put tremendous strain on the company's balance sheet. Moreover, the company has to build what it calls a "backbone" for artificial intelligence (AI) to serve its enterprise customers. To that end, Lumen plans to spend $4.1 billion to $4.3 billion in capex this year, presumably to help build that AI backbone. That is up 30% from the $3.2 billion in spending in 2024 but should enable the company to meet the needs of its new customers. Nonetheless, investors may be right to question how much the deal helps Lumen as an investment. So far, the pivot toward enterprise has not boosted the company's financials. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue dropped 3% year over year to $3.2 billion. Although that is an improvement from the 10% drop in revenue in all of 2024, it still represents a decline. Despite a net loss of $201 million, Lumen generated $354 million in free cash flow in Q1. Unfortunately, Lumen expects $700 million to $900 million in free cash flow in 2025, down from $1.4 billion in 2024. However, free cash flow will fall because of the increase in capex spending, not poor financial performance. Investors do not know quite what to make of Lumen's transformation. The stock is up 200% over the past year but down 64% from its peak in November. This likely indicates that investors are wary. Measuring the valuation is also tricky. The lack of profitability leaves it without a P/E ratio. As for its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, it is less than 0.3. That is up from 2024 lows but below the five-year average of 0.4, making it unclear whether Lumen's valuation will help draw investors back to its stock. Given the current state of the company, investors should probably limit stock purchases to speculative positions until its deals begin to drive positive revenue growth. Prospects for a turnaround have improved thanks to the aforementioned AI partnerships, and the cash infusion from the sale of the consumer fiber business greatly increases the odds of a turnaround. Unfortunately, these deals have not translated into an improved financial performance. Lumen's revenue continues to fall, and forecasts indicate that trend will continue through 2025 and 2026. Ultimately, until revenue growth turns consistently positive, Lumen stock will probably struggle to move higher. Before you buy stock in Lumen Technologies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Lumen Technologies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,389!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $830,492!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 982% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Will Healy has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Will Lumen Technologies' Asset Sale Spark a Recovery in Its Stock? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
