• Friday, May 18, 2:44 PM Nomura raises its PTs for AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) to $36 and $42, respectively. The firm sees a "positive industry backdrop" emerging, and thinks sentiment should remain healthy through the launch of the next iPhone. On the flip side, it's worried Sprint (S), on the hook for huge iPhone purchases, could suffer if its iPhone sales "conform with broader industry upgrade trends." 3 Comments [Tech, Quick Ideas]
• Wednesday, May 16, 5:07 PM Sprint (S) CEO Dan Hesse says his company is open to a major M&A deal, but not until 2014, by which point Sprint's 4G LTE upgrade will be complete. However, Hesse, whose attempt to acquire MetroPCS was thwarted by Sprint's board, notes any deal could be complicated by Sprint's low stock price. Separately, Hesse continues to predict the iPhone will be a profit-maker by 2015; concerns have grown Sprint isn't selling enough of them to absorb its purchase commitment. (previous) Comment! [Tech, M&A]
• Tuesday, May 15, 4:58 PM Bernstein's Craig Moffett issues a downbeat note on the U.S. wireless industry: like others, he believes the industry saw a small Q1 net decline in postpaid subs (35K), and notes the decline is much larger (635K) if one just focuses on handset subs. Moreover, Moffett thinks ARPUs, which have been propped up by smartphone adoption, will be pressured now that sales growth is slowing, and sees more pain for struggling prepaid carriers LEAP and PCS. 1 Comment [Tech, Quick Ideas]
• Tuesday, May 15, 1:32 PM AT&T's (T) wireless customer satisfaction score rose 5 points to 69 in the ACSI's annual survey. That puts it nearly on par with Verizon Wireless (VZ, VOD), whose score of 70 represents a 3-point drop, and Sprint (S), which dropped a point to 71. Apple (AAPL) posted the highest score among cell phone vendors at 83, while Research In Motion (RIMM) had the lowest at 69. 3 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 15, 12:38 PM Sprint (S) shareholders vote to keep CEO Dan Hesse as a director despite The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which owns ~4%, saying last week it would oppose his re-election. 1 Comment [Tech, Consumer]
• Monday, May 14, 12:58 PM With the U.S. mobile industry nearing saturation, wireless carriers appear to have seen a net decline in postpaid subscribers in seasonally weak Q1, as gains for AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ, VOD) were offset by losses for Sprint (S), T-Mobile (DTEGY.PK), and others. Slowing smartphone sales were a major culprit. 2 Comments [Tech]
• Wednesday, May 9, 1:04 PM Sprint (S +3%) has also caught a bid thanks to Bloomberg's report about MetroPCS/T-Mobile USA merger talks. The report notes Sprint's management discussed acquiring T-Mobile USA last year, and in February struck a deal to acquire MetroPCS (PCS +16%) before being shot down by Sprint's board. 2 Comments [Tech, On the Move, M&A]
• Wednesday, May 9, 11:07 AM Verizon recently joined AT&T in giving its support to Windows Phone (MSFT), and now Sprint (S) appears to be doing the same. Though Sprint's only Windows Phone model, the HTC Arrive, hasn't sold well, an exec says the company is "bullish" on Windows Phone 8, code-named Apollo, and will give the platform another look in the August-September timeframe. Nokia (NOK) should be happy to hear that. Sprint also says it will shut down its legacy iDEN network by 2H13. 6 Comments [Tech]
• Tuesday, May 8, 5:44 AM A major Sprint (S) investor, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, plans to vote against the re-election of CEO Dan Hesse to the company's board, due to the "poor linkages" between company performance and senior management pay. Hesse said on Friday he'd take a $3.25M pay cut, which was enough to convince proxy advisor ISS. (See Aviva) 4 Comments [Tech, Consumer]
• Tuesday, May 1, 3:48 PM Sprint (S +3.4%) has been awarded a $2B wireless services contract from the Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA), a consortium that handles public-sector purchases for 15 states. The deal lasts through October 2016. (PR) Comment! [Tech]
• Wednesday, April 25, 6:43 PM Sprint (S -1.6%) finished lower following its Q1 report, partly due to worries about its net add figures. Bernstein (Underperform) thinks Sprint's large Q/Q drop in net adds, together with disappointing figures (I, II) from AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ), indicate the U.S. wireless market is saturated. It's also worried Sprint isn't selling enough iPhones to absorb its 7.5M unit/year commitment. Wells Fargo (Outperform), by contrast, praises Sprint's ARPU growth and 4G buildout progress. Comment! [Tech, Quick Ideas]
• Wednesday, April 25, 9:48 AM More on Sprint's (S +4.9%) Q1: Postpaid net adds were 263K - down from Q4's 539K, but still a welcome change from the losses seen until recently. Total net adds were above 1M (1.6M in Q4), and postpaid ARPU (boosted by iPhone subs) rose $1.29 Q/Q to $59.88. 1.5M iPhones sold (1.8M in Q4). Free cash flow, closely watched given liquidity fears, was $138M, in spite of a 44% Y/Y increase in capex to $800M. Sprint platform churn was 2% (1.99% in Q4). 2 Comments [Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
• Wednesday, April 25, 9:06 AM Premarket gainers: GEOI +21%. KND +17%. CDXS +9%. AAPL +9%. S +8%. TQNT +8%. JNY +6%. DAN +6%. RFMD +6%. GLW +5%. MOS +5%. ARMH +5%. MT +5%. BRCM +5%. NBR +4%. CLWR +4%. ALU +4%. FTNT +4%. STM +4%. POT +4%. HOG +4%. BBVA +4%. TS +3%. NOK +3%. STD +3%. TEF +3%. VMED +3%. IGT +3%.
  Losers: ICON -14%. BIDU -6%. GSK -3%. Comment! [On the Move]
• Wednesday, April 25, 7:12 AM Sprint Nextel (S): Q1 EPS of -$0.29 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $8.73B (+5% Y/Y) in-line. Shares +3.7% premarket. (PR) Comment! [Earnings]
• Wednesday, April 25, 12:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: ABB, AN, ATI, BA, CAT, CNH, CS, CVE, DAL, DAN, DPS, ECA, ERIC, GD, GLW, GNC, GSK, HCBK, HES, HOG, HST, JNY, LCC, LLY, LO, MSI, MWV, NDAQ, NEE, NLSN, NOC, NOV, OC, PX, RES, ROK, S, SAP, SO, TEL, TMO, UMC, VMED, WLP, WYN Comment! [Earnings]
• Tuesday, April 24, 5:30 PM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: ABB, AN, ATI, BA, CAT, CNH, CS, CVE, DAL, DAN, DPS, ECA, ERIC, GD, GLW, GNC, GSK, HCBK, HES, HOG, HST, JNY, LCC, LLY, LO, MSI, MWV, NDAQ, NEE, NLSN, NOC, NOV, OC, PX, RES, ROK, S, SAP, SO, TEL, TMO, UMC, VMED, WLP, WYN Comment! [Earnings]