Dj Interdigital Inc, Inst Holders, 3Q 2024 (Idcc)

Nokia Corporation NOK recently revealed it has secured a five-year extension of its agreement with Microsoft, strengthening its position as the key supplier for Azure cloud infrastructure. The deal will accelerate Microsoft’s global footprint expansion initiatives and effectively support massive growth in compute workloads.

SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) is an open-source network operating system extensively used by large-scale cloud data centers and service providers. Nokia boasts a strong research and innovation foundation on SONiC (Software for Open Networking in the Cloud) capabilities. Over the past six years, MSFT has collaborated with Nokia engineers to develop routers running based on SONiC. The recent agreement is built on this existing partnership around open-source SONiC technology.

Nokia is set to supply its 7250 IXR-10e platform, which provides multi-terabyte-scale interconnectivity to address the growing bandwidth demands within Microsoft datacenters. Nokia will also deploy SONiC-based routers and data center switches to facilitate Microsoft’s transition to 400GE connectivity from 100GE. These advanced solutions will augment the speed and reliability of Microsoft’s data center infrastructure, enabling it to maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly growing cloud service market.

Will This Venture Drive NOK’s Share Performance?

The deal will expand Nokia’s global footprint to over 30 countries and also strengthen the company's position as a strategic and reliable supplier for tier-one hyperscale companies like Microsoft. With the surging demand for general compute and data traffic, enterprises worldwide are looking to enhance their data center infrastructure to improve network capacity. With its comprehensive data center portfolio, Nokia is well-positioned to gain from this emerging market trend.

NOK’s Stock Price Performance

Shares of Nokia have gained 18.4% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 39.1%.

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ recently announced that it has deployed an Open RAN-based Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the Austin Convention Center and the University of Texas to deliver reliable 5G services. This marks the first commercial deployment of the DAS systems with multi-vendor interoperability using O RAN interfaces in the Verizon network.

In recent deployments, Samsung virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) was utilized in conjunction with Commscope DAS connected through an O-RAN interface. This advanced setup facilitates the delivery of Verizon’s 5G Ultra-Wideband services, ensuring high-speed, reliable Internet availability in the venues. The solution eliminates the need for RF equipment, thus lowering the power consumption, space requirements and need for cooling systems. This ensures significant cost reduction compared to legacy setups.

Over the last few years, Verizon has shifted toward cloud-based architecture, virtualization and O-RAN integration. Verizon’s aggressive adoption of O-RAN standards has played a key role in its network evolution. The company has been a pioneer in fostering O-RAN implementations in commercial environments, with around 130,000 O-RAN capable radios already deployed across its network.

Will These Developments Drive VZ’s Share Performance?

The open framework of O-RAN eliminates the risk associated with vendor lock-in and allows customers to choose from the best components from different suppliers as per their requirements. This optimizes operators' expenses. It also opens up market opportunities for new entrants, creating a healthy competitive environment that accelerates innovation. The deployment flexibility, scalability and cost-saving attributes are driving the O-RAN adoption and investments in Open RAN are expected to grow substantially in upcoming years. Verizon is well-positioned to capitalize on this emerging market trend.

Moreover, the successful deployment of O-RAN-based DAS systems serves as a testament to Verizon’s industry-leading network portfolio. This achievement is laying the foundation for the broader adoption of multi-vendor, interoperable networks in highly demanding venues such as stadiums, airports and more.

VZ’s Stock Price Performance

Shares of Verizon have gained 14.1% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 37.7%.

Blackbaud BLKB recently partnered with Flywire Corporation FLYW, a global payments enablement and software organization, to improve the payment experience for international students paying tuition fees at K-12 private and independent schools in the United States. By integrating Flywire’s global payment platform into Blackbaud’s Tuition Management system, schools and families can benefit from a unified and streamlined payment experience, providing real-time, secure and user-friendly payment processing for families across the globe.

K-12 boarding and independent schools are working to attract more international students by improving recruitment strategies, offering better student support and reaching out to diverse audiences. Simplifying payment processes, including currency conversion and cross-border transactions, helps remove enrollment barriers. Flexible payment plans and secure options make schools more appealing and accessible, encouraging higher enrollment, especially among international and non-local families.

Tuition payments for secondary schools in the United States can range from $4,200 to more than $29,000 annually. Traditionally, families have relied on international wire transfers or credit cards to handle these payments—methods often accompanied by high fees, limited visibility into transactions and processing delays. To address these challenges, the partnership between Flywire and Blackbaud offers a robust solution, transforming the payment experience for both parties involved.

Schools using Blackbaud gain from Flywire's out-of-the-box integration and 24/7 multilingual support. This integration ensures smooth payment processing within Blackbaud, providing real-time balances and payment status updates for front-end and back-end users. The Flywire-Blackbaud collaboration not only improves payments but also addresses the broader challenges that international families and schools face. By simplifying international tuition payments, the integration empowers schools to attract and retain diverse student populations while enhancing operational efficiency.

Blackbaud, Inc. Price and Consensus

Blackbaud, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Blackbaud, Inc. Quote

Blackbaud is a leading software provider focused on supporting social impact. Its software is designed to enhance impact in areas such as fundraising, financial management for nonprofits, digital giving, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and education management.

Strong momentum in the core social sector, along with strategic partnerships, is aiding BLKB’s stock movement. In September 2024, BLKB expanded its long-standing partnership with Microsoft to incorporate Microsoft AI and analytics into software designed for the distinct operational needs of social impact organizations, eliminating the necessity for expensive customizations.

The social sector contributed 89% to the company’s third-quarter revenues, with a 6.6% year-over-year rise. Within this sector, contractual recurring revenues grew 6.8%, while transactional recurring revenues rose 6.6%. Management is optimistic about the sector’s long-term performance, highlighting its resilience even during economic downturns like the pandemic. A revised strategy for renewal contract pricing is also expected to drive growth. The company plans to transition 65% of eligible customers to updated contract terms and pricing by the end of 2024, with an additional 25% shifting in 2025 and the final 10% completing the process by 2026. Healthy financial performance is likely to propel the stock.

BLKB’s Zacks Rank & Stock Price Performance

BLKB currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Following the announcement, BLKB’s shares gained 2.8% and closed the trading session at $85.37 on Nov. 21. Shares of the company have soared 13% in the past year compared with the sub-industry's growth of 17%.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Workday Inc. WDAY and InterDigital, Inc. IDCC. IDCC presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), whereas WDAY carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

IDCC is a pioneer in advanced mobile technologies that enable wireless communications and capabilities. The company engages in designing and developing a wide range of advanced technology solutions, which are used in digital cellular as well as wireless 3G, 4G and IEEE 802-related products and networks. It has a long-term growth expectation of 17.44%.

WDAY is a leading provider of enterprise-level software solutions for financial management and human resource domains. The company’s cloud-based platform combines finance and HR in a single system, making it easier for organizations to provide analytical insights and decision support. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 7.36%.

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Nokia Corporation NOK recently revealed that it has been awarded a multi-year, multi-billion deal extension by Bharti Airtel (Airtel) to enhance and expand 4G and 5G network infrastructure across key regions of India, leveraging its advanced connectivity and technological solutions.

Digging Deep Into the NOK-Airtel Deal

As part of the agreement, Nokia will deploy equipment from its state-of-the-art industry-leading 5G AirScale portfolio, comprising baseband units and its latest generation of Massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radios. This portfolio integrates Nokia’s energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology to deliver faster speeds, lower latency and greater capacity that will likely help Airtel meet growing demands, while the Massive MIMO radio supports the diverse deployment and operational needs of mobile network operators.

Additionally, Airtel will benefit from Nokia's MantaRay network management solution, renowned for its network optimization and automation capabilities. This solution features self-configuring modules that enhance network performance and efficiency, tailored to meet specific operational challenges and growing complexity. The AI-based automation will also facilitate better monitoring and management of the network with fewer people to ensure seamless equipment installation and superior performance.

Will This Deal Extension Drive NOK Shares?

With the emergence of the smartphone market and subsequent usage of mobile broadband, user demand for coverage speed and quality has recently increased. Further, to maintain superior performance as traffic increases, there is also a continuous need for network tuning and optimization. The company’s expertise in mission-critical networks is well-established, with deployments across more than 2,600 leading enterprise customers in the transportation, energy, manufacturing, webscale and public sector segments worldwide.

Nokia has been a key partner to Airtel for more than two decades, helping the company build its 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G networks. Their partnership has recently reached a new milestone with the launch of the Green 5G Initiative, aimed at enhancing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in alignment with Airtel’s sustainability goals. This agreement further strengthens their long-standing collaboration, highlighting both companies' shared commitment to innovation and the sustainable growth of network infrastructure in India.

These advancements are likely to propel the stock with incremental revenue generation and inducement of similar deals from other carriers in the future. The deal is also expected to strengthen Nokia’s position as a leading telecommunications equipment provider in India.

NOK’s Stock Price Performance

Shares of Nokia have gained 20.4% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 43.5%.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. KEYS recently expanded its financial capital markets portfolio through a strategic collaboration with a software company in London, Instrumentix. By integrating Instrumentix's renowned xMetrics flow monitoring software with Keysight’s market-data health and quality monitoring capabilities, the collaborative effort aims to introduce a cutting-edge trade solution that will provide financial institutions with powerful tools to monitor and analyze optical taps, high-speed packet brokers, multicast gap detection, time synchronization and flow monitoring into a single unified platform.

How Will KEYS-Instrumentix Deal Aid Financial Firms?

In today’s complex financial landscape, many institutions struggle with fragmented visibility into trade execution and market data performance, leading to inefficiencies, missed opportunities and operational challenges. Instrumentix’s xMetrics provides comprehensive insights into order flow, market data and infrastructure performance, ensuring that trade execution is efficient and profitable.

The solution’s integration with Keysight’s network packet brokers (NPBs) provides a unified, real-time monitoring and analytics platform that allows financial institutions to identify performance issues quickly, optimize trade execution and streamline operations. This, in turn, thereby improves profitability, ensuring a competitive edge.

In addition, the new platform will offer unmatched flexibility, enabling firms to deploy the technology either as standalone software or as part of a fully integrated system with Keysight’s Vision 400 NPBs. The combination of market-leading packet brokers with xMetrics analytics ensures that capital market participants can verify execution efficiency, optimize customer experience and improve overall operational performance.

Increasing Client Base to Drive Performance for KEYS

Keysight's cutting-edge solutions are shaping the future of connectivity across diverse sectors, from enhancing network visibility for telecom providers to certifying the next generation of wired connectivity and optimizing workflows for research facilities. With this joint solution, Keysight will empower financial institutions to navigate an increasingly complex market landscape. By providing real-time trade insights and comprehensive monitoring capabilities, the partnership ensures that firms can make smarter, faster decisions and maintain seamless operations in today’s fast-paced trading environment.

With a strong presence in more than 100 countries, the leading provider of electronic design and test solutions is expected to benefit from the increasing customer base. This will likely enable the company to generate higher revenues in the upcoming quarters. Improving financial performance is likely to propel the stock upward.

KEYS’ Stock Price Performance

Shares of Keysight have gained 23% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 10.7%.

Growth investors focus on stocks that are seeing above-average financial growth, as this feature helps these securities garner the market's attention and deliver solid returns. However, it isn't easy to find a great growth stock.

In addition to volatility, these stocks carry above-average risk by their very nature. Also, one could end up losing from a stock whose growth story is actually over or nearing its end.

However, the Zacks Growth Style Score (part of the Zacks Style Scores system), which looks beyond the traditional growth attributes to analyze a company's real growth prospects, makes it pretty easy to find cutting-edge growth stocks.

InterDigital (IDCC) is one such stock that our proprietary system currently recommends. The company not only has a favorable Growth Score, but also carries a top Zacks Rank.

Studies have shown that stocks with the best growth features consistently outperform the market. And for stocks that have a combination of a Growth Score of A or B and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), returns are even better.

Here are three of the most important factors that make the stock of this wireless research and development company a great growth pick right now.

Earnings Growth

Arguably nothing is more important than earnings growth, as surging profit levels is what most investors are after. For growth investors, double-digit earnings growth is highly preferable, as it is often perceived as an indication of strong prospects (and stock price gains) for the company under consideration.

While the historical EPS growth rate for InterDigital is 87.2%, investors should actually focus on the projected growth. The company's EPS is expected to grow 63.7% this year, crushing the industry average, which calls for EPS growth of 13.6%.

Cash Flow Growth

Cash is the lifeblood of any business, but higher-than-average cash flow growth is more beneficial and important for growth-oriented companies than for mature companies. That's because, high cash accumulation enables these companies to undertake new projects without raising expensive outside funds.

Right now, year-over-year cash flow growth for InterDigital is 78.1%, which is higher than many of its peers. In fact, the rate compares to the industry average of -3.6%.

While investors should actually consider the current cash flow growth, it's worth taking a look at the historical rate too for putting the current reading into proper perspective. The company's annualized cash flow growth rate has been 18.7% over the past 3-5 years versus the industry average of 1%.

Promising Earnings Estimate Revisions

Beyond the metrics outlined above, investors should consider the trend in earnings estimate revisions. A positive trend is a plus here. Empirical research shows that there is a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

There have been upward revisions in current-year earnings estimates for InterDigital. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has surged 49.5% over the past month.

Bottom Line

InterDigital has not only earned a Growth Score of B based on a number of factors, including the ones discussed above, but it also carries a Zacks Rank #1 because of the positive earnings estimate revisions.

You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

This combination positions InterDigital well for outperformance, so growth investors may want to bet on it.

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