- Even with Sprint and T-Mobile reported (again) to be in merger talks, a deal between them wouldn't "kill other tower catalysts," Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) says in an endorsement of communications tower stocks that have declined following news of the discussions.
- Analyst Jennifer Fritzsche has an Outperform rating on American Tower (NYSE:AMT) and Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI). AMT, down as much as 4.1% previously, is down 2.5% now. CCI has recovered to a 2.2% decline.
- She rates SBA Communications (NASDAQ:SBAC) Market Perform; that stock is down 2.7% today.
- The two carriers would comment "loudly" about network/backhaul savings if they merged, which would have varying effects depending on the tower firms' exposure to the two: AMT 4% of revenue with 5 years left on a contract; CCI 8% of revenue with 5-6 years remaining; SBAC 5% of revenue with 3-5 years remaining.
- But the tower firms have much to look forward to ahead alongside growing wireless demand, spectrum deployment and AT&T (NYSE:T)'s FirstNet buildout (h/t Bloomberg).
- Now read: A REIT With Fantastic Total Returns Above The Dow Average And Dividend Growth Of 16% A Year
Original article