Chris Blount
05-06-04, 05:56 AM
Wall Street praised what it saw from DirecTV and its first quarter results, in which the satellite TV company reported net customer adds of 460,000 for the three-month period.
On Wednesday, Banc of America Securities' Doug Shapiro retained his "buy" rating on the DirecTV stock. "Besides strong secular dynamics, we believe DirecTV still has substantial fat to cut and, as was clearly evident this quarter, we believe it continues to have strong business momentum," he said in a research note.
Shapiro raised his 2004 net customer additions for DirecTV to 1.4 million from 1.2 million.
Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. also liked what he saw from the satellite TV company. "The very strong subscriber additions this quarter continues DirecTV U.S.'s strong momentum," he said. "The performance reflects continued share gains by DirecTV U.S. versus both cable and EchoStar, as well as faster-than-expected household formation and multichannel market growth."
Moffett said a close eye should be kept on rising SAC and retention marketing costs at DirecTV, which are pressuring margins and potentially marginal subscriber returns. He also said spending is expected to continue climbing in future quarters as DirecTV implements new marketing initiatives.
Tom Eagan of Oppenheimer and Co. maintained a "buy" rating on DirecTV's stock.
"With Subscription TV battles heating up in 2004, we expect the best positioned companies to grab additional market share of TV viewers," Eagan said. "This coincides with our thesis that investors migrate to 'quality' companies, not just those trading at lower multiples. For the satellite TV operators, we believe that DirecTV is better positioned than DISH."
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)
On Wednesday, Banc of America Securities' Doug Shapiro retained his "buy" rating on the DirecTV stock. "Besides strong secular dynamics, we believe DirecTV still has substantial fat to cut and, as was clearly evident this quarter, we believe it continues to have strong business momentum," he said in a research note.
Shapiro raised his 2004 net customer additions for DirecTV to 1.4 million from 1.2 million.
Craig Moffett of Sanford C. Bernstein and Co. also liked what he saw from the satellite TV company. "The very strong subscriber additions this quarter continues DirecTV U.S.'s strong momentum," he said. "The performance reflects continued share gains by DirecTV U.S. versus both cable and EchoStar, as well as faster-than-expected household formation and multichannel market growth."
Moffett said a close eye should be kept on rising SAC and retention marketing costs at DirecTV, which are pressuring margins and potentially marginal subscriber returns. He also said spending is expected to continue climbing in future quarters as DirecTV implements new marketing initiatives.
Tom Eagan of Oppenheimer and Co. maintained a "buy" rating on DirecTV's stock.
"With Subscription TV battles heating up in 2004, we expect the best positioned companies to grab additional market share of TV viewers," Eagan said. "This coincides with our thesis that investors migrate to 'quality' companies, not just those trading at lower multiples. For the satellite TV operators, we believe that DirecTV is better positioned than DISH."
http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)