General Investing Forum

[DanielB]

Sprint's positive earnings report and reassurance that network upgrades will not disrupt service is still not enough to stop the negative Nancys

 

Run, Don't Walk Away From Sprint http://seekingalpha.com/article/3834466?source=ansh $S, $T, $VZ

 

Boy, do I want to punch that idiot (Seeking Alpha contributor) square in the face. Same for anyone affiliated with Re/code. If this idiot has been covering telecom for 30+ years, he hasn't been doing a great job - that is for sure.

[Rawvega]

Boy, do I want to punch that idiot (Seeking Alpha contributor) square in the face. Same for anyone affiliated with Re/code. If this idiot has been covering telecom for 30+ years, he hasn't been doing a great job - that is for sure.

 

From reading his takes on S for several years I can confidently say that Dana Blankenhorn is the Craig Moffett of Seeking Alpha. Good for a laugh, but not to be taken seriously.

[EvanA]

Sprint up 2.3% as Oppenheimer upgrades to Neutral http://seekingalpha.com/news/3056456?source=ansh

[Ascertion]

Honest question, and I'd love to ask this to other investors that are rating the stock poorly...

 

Sprint's spectrum position right now is worth more than the company, itself.  Why is the stock so heavily undervalued?  Sprint can literally sell off their B41 assets to pay off close to the company's entire debt (if not all of it.) 

[nick]

Honest question, and I'd love to ask this to other investors that are rating the stock poorly...

 

Sprint's spectrum position right now is worth more than the company, itself.  Why is the stock so heavily undervalued?  Sprint can literally sell off their B41 assets to pay off close to the company's entire debt (if not all of it.) 

honest answer, stocks don't always trade in line with the value of it's assets less debt.  The market isn't always right, that is where you, or I can step in buy shares and make some money.  I use the term value loosely because its impossible to say exactly how much money sprint's spectrum is worth on its own.  look at a company like yahoo, it's market cap is almost less than the value of it's shares of Alibaba.  Is yahoo by it's self worthless?  Because right now yahoo is trading like its core business is worth less than $0.  yahoo market cap 28.82, current approximate Alibaba stake $30 billion. 

[DanielB]

honest answer, stocks don't always trade in line with the value of it's assets less debt.  The market isn't always right, that is where you, or I can step in buy shares and make some money.  I use the term value loosely because its impossible to say exactly how much money sprint's spectrum is worth on its own.  look at a company like yahoo, it's market cap is almost less than the value of it's shares of Alibaba.  Is yahoo by it's self worthless?  Because right now yahoo is trading like its core business is worth less than $0.  yahoo market cap 28.82, current approximate Alibaba stake $30 billion. 

 

^^ This. And - no one really knows the value of the 2.5 GHz spectrum. Could be a lot - could be a little. One thing to keep in mind is that for there to be value there'd have to be a buyer. And the other carriers are all leveraged to the hilt, as well.

[EvanA]

Here we go again.

 

Sprint: Still A Terminal Short http://seekingalpha.com/article/3853686?source=ansh

 

Comments are calling them out on their BS. If you can't read the article because SA wants you to subscribe to pro, check it out in the app.

[luvixuha]

^^ This. And - no one really knows the value of the 2.5 GHz spectrum. Could be a lot - could be a little. One thing to keep in mind is that for there to be value there'd have to be a buyer. And the other carriers are all leveraged to the hilt, as well.

 

IIRC, Sprint carries their spectrum on the books at around $40B. That includes 800 and PCS, but if you dug out old financials pre-clearwire you could probably figure out how much is 2.5GHz based on how much the rest was... or get a ballpark.

[WiWavelength]

IIRC, Sprint carries their spectrum on the books at around $40B. That includes 800 and PCS, but if you dug out old financials pre-clearwire you could probably figure out how much is 2.5GHz based on how much the rest was... or get a ballpark.

 

Any separate BRS/EBS spectrum valuation would be just a ballpark figure.  Spectrum value fluctuates with ongoing FCC auctions and other license/lease transactions.

 

AJ

[DanielB]

IIRC, Sprint carries their spectrum on the books at around $40B. That includes 800 and PCS, but if you dug out old financials pre-clearwire you could probably figure out how much is 2.5GHz based on how much the rest was... or get a ballpark.

 

But that's beside the point. The real value simply isn't known. Again, the other major carriers are too debt-laden to purchase Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum at this point (besides having no interest in doing so), which definitely decreases the market value. If there were widespread interest in the spectrum by other players, that would increase the value.

[spotmeterf64]

But that's beside the point. The real value simply isn't known. Again, the other major carriers are too debt-laden to purchase Sprint's 2.5 GHz spectrum at this point (besides having no interest in doing so), which definitely decreases the market value. If there were widespread interest in the spectrum by other players, that would increase the value.

 

 

Something is only worth what somebody else will pay. 

[DanielB]

Something is only worth what somebody else will pay. 

 

Exactly!! I wouldn't trust Sprint's estimate of what the spectrum is worth - not because I think they're lying, but because I think there may not be a buyer unless it's a lot cheaper.

[nick]

Exactly!! I wouldn't trust Sprint's estimate of what the spectrum is worth - not because I think they're lying, but because I think there may not be a buyer unless it's a lot cheaper.

I am not sure about "a lot cheaper" I think many carries would love to have this spectrum at what price is hard to say but i think it hold significant value.  this seems like ancient history but ill post it any way, the merger of sprint and clearwire scared the pants of att and Verizon when it was announced.

http://muniwireless.com/2008/07/25/att-challenges-clearwire-sprint-merger/  

 

Verizon:

 "The combined company will have access to an average of 150 MHz of spectrum in the top 100 markets and an average of

100 MHz in areas outside of the top 100 markets – making it the largest spectrum holder in the Unites States. The merger of ALLTEL and Verizon Wireless will enable Verizon Wireless to compete more effectively with this significant new player."

 

AT&T:

"Our attached FCC filing shows that the combined company will become the largest holder of licensed and leased mobile spectrum of any other carrier, have a service that will be commercially available later this year, have financial backing from Google, Intel, and three of the nation’s largest cable television companies and be fully capable of substantially impacting competition in the mobile communications market."

 

now obviously that article was from 2008 final acquisition made on  July 09, 2013

Verizon and att still exist as the larges players in the space, they win more network awards than sprint.  However the statements from all those years ago still hold true, the spectrum holdings are of great strategic value and hopefully sooner rather than later the fears of ATT and Verizon will be realized.  It has been a long road for sprint, it has required more time and money than anyone could have imagined back then but the ground work has been laid, the bulk of network vision is complete.  Now with NGN they will expand on what already exists, deployment of additional spectrum will become quicker and less expensive than at any other point in sprints history.  If they get full backing from soft bank, municipalities and equipment vendors this network could change very very quickly for the better.  As always the job is sprint's to either hit it out of the park or fumble the execution, only time will tell but the path is clearer than ever and the foundation is..... for once, solid.          

[JimBob]

News still holding Sprint back is continued credit ratings cuts for its debt.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-02/sprint-s-credit-rating-cut-by-s-p-amid-intense-competition

[Ascertion]

$2.58 as of this post.  Does somebody have a relatable GIF to express my sadness in being invested financially with this company?

 

EDIT: Found my own.

[EvanA]

The market and telecom sector as a whole is down today.

[JimBob]

The market and telecom sector as a whole is down today.

The market is not down 8% like Sprint is.

[EvanA]

The market is not down 8% like Sprint is.

True, but Sprint is always down more when the rest of the market is down because of their debt position.

[JimBob]

SoftBank announces biggest ever share buyback

 

http://www.ft.com/fastft/2016/02/15/softbank-announces-biggest-ever-share-buyback/

 

Hopefully, we see some benefit accrue to Sprint shares.

[utiz4321]

I don't get this at all. SoftBank has a nearly 100 billion in debt. To borrow money and pay interest on it to buy back stock, an act that doesn't offer a return on the borrowed money, seems short sighted.

 

 

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[WillM]

I don't get this at all. SoftBank has a nearly 100 billion in debt. To borrow money and pay interest on it to buy back stock, an act that doesn't offer a return on the borrowed money, seems short sighted.

 

 

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I think Japan has gone completely crazy and has almost negative interest rates so why not borrow? Plus I assume they think the shares are undervalued.

[utiz4321]

I think Japan has gone completely crazy and has almost negative interest rates so why not borrow? Plus I assume they think the shares are undervalued.

At some point they have to pay back the principle+ a small amount of interest. If their share are undervalued (which they are now worthless than softbank's stake in alibaba so maybe) than I still don't see what this gets them unless they pay dividends which I don't know if they do or not.

 

 

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[Overstew]

At some point they have to pay back the principle+ a small amount of interest. If their share are undervalued (which they are now worthless than softbank's stake in alibaba so maybe) than I still don't see what this gets them unless they pay dividends which I don't know if they do or not.

 

 

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I guess they value analyst opinion more than the interest they're incurring by buying the stocks back. However, this did not help Sprint stock a lot here so I'm not sure what kind of effect it'll have in the Japanese market. Edited February 15, 2016 by Overstew

[Mr.Nuke]

I don't get this at all. SoftBank has a nearly 100 billion in debt. To borrow money and pay interest on it to buy back stock, an act that doesn't offer a return on the borrowed money, seems short sighted.

They aren't borrowing money...

http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/news/press/sb/2016/20160215_01/

[utiz4321]

They aren't borrowing money...

http://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/news/press/sb/2016/20160215_01/

Funds are fungible, they just raised 3 billion.

 

 

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