Third Point Llc Reports 5.7% Passive Stake In Telephone And Data Systems As Of Dec 17 - Sec Filing

Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. TDS have climbed 85.3% year to date against a decline of 6.6% for the industry. Solid growth in residential broadband connections, healthy traction in fixed wireless portfolio and tower rental business are key growth drivers. Management’s focus on cost optimization is driving profitability. Backed by strong fundamentals, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock appears primed for further appreciation.

Growth Drivers

The telecom service provider is aggressively pushing to extend its fiber networks across its total service addresses. Currently, 49% of its total service addresses are served by fiber, and it is on track to achieve its long-term goal of 60%. In the third quarter of 2024, TDS Telecom delivered 32,000 new marketable fiber addresses and is set to reach 125,000 fiber service addresses in 2024. Residential broadband connections reached 115,300 at the same time, up from 79,400 a year ago, owing to steady fiber service address delivery and effective sales strategies. The TDS Telecom segment is reaping the benefit of significant fiber broadband investment made in the past couple of years, which is boosting revenues and profitability.

The U.S. Cellular segment is steadily advancing its network infrastructure, with a strong emphasis on mid-band deployment to enhance speed and capacity. In the third quarter of 2024, fixed wireless customers grew 32% year over year, reaching 140,000. Additionally, postpaid ARPU has shown consistent improvement over the past few quarters. The company is witnessing healthy traction in the Tower rental business as well. U.S. Cellular’s tower assets are used by major telecommunications players, including AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.

The company has initiated several strategic divestitures, which will fund investment in the fiber network expansion program, reduce leverage levels and potentially improve prospects of returning capital to shareholders.

TDS delivered an earnings surprise of 76.66%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. The company has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) of 1.33 on a scale of 1 to 5 (Strong Buy to Strong Sell). ABR is the calculated average of actual recommendations made by brokerage firms and portends the future potential of the stock.

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