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CTL

CenturyLink, Inc.

5/19/2013, 9:57 PM ET

Quote & Headlines Market Currents StockTalk

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Thursday, May 9, 1:13 PM Frontier (FTR -1.6%) ticks lower as two rural telco peers head in opposite directions following their Q1 reports. CenturyLink (CTL +1.9%) is rallying in response to an EPS beat and reaffirmed free cash flow guidance, and Windstream (WIN -4.2%) is selling off due to a revenue/EPS miss caused by ongoing wholesale and (to a lesser extent) consumer weakness. Also: Highfields Capital's Jonathan Jacobson made a bear case for AT&T today featuring arguments - slumping wireline revenue and a potentially unsustainable dividend yield - that are often levied against rural telcos. (transcripts: CenturyLink, Windstream) (Frontier Q1: I, II) Comment! [Tech, On the Move]
Wednesday, May 8, 4:23 PM CenturyLink (CTL): Q1 EPS of $0.76 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $4.51B (-2% Y/Y) in-line. Free cash flow of $1.006B (-3% Y/Y). Expects Q2 revenue of $4.49B-$4.54B and EPS of $0.63-$0.68 vs. consensus of $4.54B and $0.66. Expects 2013 revenue of $18.1B-$18.3B and EPS of $2.50-$2.70 vs. consensus of $18.15B and $2.66. Maintains guidance for 2013 free cash flow $3B-$3.2B and capex of $2.8B-$3B. Shares +0.2% AH. (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings, Breaking News]
Wednesday, May 8, 12:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: AHT, ALJ, ATLS, ATVI, AVNR, CF, CLNE, CLR, CTL, CTRP, CUZ, CXW, DEPO, DK, ERII, ETE, ETP, GMCR, GRPN, GSS, HALO, HEK, HNSN, JOE, LPSN, MBLX, MDR, MED, MIDD, MM, MNST, MNTX, MWE, NWSA, OSUR, PPO, PVA, QTM, RAX, RGP, RIG, RST, SGMO, SPRD, SSRI, STEC, SXL, SZYM, TCAP, TSLA, WR, XTEX Comment! [Earnings]
Tuesday, May 7, 5:35 PM Notable earnings after Wednesday’s close: AHT, ALJ, ATLS, ATVI, AVNR, CF, CLNE, CLR, CTL, CTRP, CUZ, CXW, DEPO, DK, ERII, ETE, ETP, GMCR, GRPN, GSS, HALO, HEK, HNSN, JOE, LPSN, MBLX, MDR, MED, MIDD, MM, MNST, MNTX, MWE, NWSA, OSUR, PPO, PVA, QTM, RAX, RGP, RIG, RST, SGMO, SPRD, SSRI, STEC, SXL, SZYM, TCAP, TSLA, WR, XTEX Comment! [Earnings]
Wednesday, April 24, 10:44 AM AT&T (T -5.4%) gets slammed as 3 downgrades arrive in response to its Q1 revenue miss, the result of soft wireless subscriber adds and declining wireline revenue. There might also be concerns about whether lowering 2014/2015 capex targets (to fuel more buybacks?) is a bright idea in light of flagging growth. AT&T's 296K Q1 postpaid net adds (boosted by tablets) and 184K prepaid net losses are easily worse than Verizon's respective net adds of 677K and 43K. On the earnings call, AT&T mostly blamed wireline weakness on macro and government issues, rather than legacy voice service declines. VZ -1.9%. CTL -4%. WIN -2.2%. FTR -1.1%. 8 Comments [Tech, Earnings, On the Move]
Thursday, April 4, 10:35 AM CenturyLink's (CTL +2.4%) dividend (current yield of 6%) is sustainable, declares JPMorgan's Philip Cusick while upgrading shares to Buy - CenturyLink crashed in Feb. after cutting its dividend by over 25%. Cusick notes the telco's yield remains higher than Verizon and AT&T's, and believes it has been making good use of its $2B buyback plan. The upgrade comes as rural telcos try to take advantage of FCC chairman Julius Genachowski's pending departure to get Congress to implement a "time out" for the FCC's Universal Service Fund reforms. Comment! [Tech, On the Move, Quick Ideas]
Thursday, March 21, 1:25 PM Jim Ousley, the CEO of CenturyLink's (CTL -0.4%) Savvis data center colocation/Web hosting services unit, is retiring, effective April 1. Savvis president Jeff Von Deylen will take over Ousley's role at the company. CenturyLink acquired Savvis for $2.5B in 2011. (PR) Comment! [Tech]
Friday, March 8, 10:58 AM Looking to protect the duopoly/near-duopoly positions they have in many U.S. broadband markets, U.S. telcos and cable companies are lobbying hard to put an end to publicly-funded broadband networks, arguing (without irony) such networks hurt competition. AT&T (T), Time Warner Cable (TWC), Windstream (WIN), and Comcast (CMCSA) are some of the incumbents to have mounted lobbying efforts, which have led at least 19 states to place restrictions on public broadband investments. 13 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, February 27, 7:10 PM CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) declares $0.54/share quarterly dividend, 25% decrease from prior dividend of $0.725. Forward yield 6.26%. For shareholders of record Mar. 11. Payable Mar. 22. Ex-div date Mar. 07. (PR) 2 Comments [Dividends]
Saturday, February 23, 2:47 PM "There's no need for us to cut our dividend, neither this year nor next year nor in the future," says Windstream (WIN) CEO Jeff Gardner - his firm is committed to a $1/share/year payout (11.7% yield). But while Gardner argues a focus on business services will allow Windstream to avoid CenturyLink's (CTL) fate, many think rural telco yields can't last in light of wireline disconnections, capex needs, and potential tax credit removals. Nomura: "A lot of these companies are carrying the baggage of a legacy dividend policy that just doesn't make sense any more." FTR has a 9.8% yield, and CNSL a 9.3% yield. 16 Comments [Tech]
Thursday, February 14, 12:46 PM Midday top 10 gainers: STZ +37%. ART +32%. ANGI +24%. EMITF +21%. HNZ +20%. FFEX +20%. MEIP +18%. VCLK +17%. SPWR +17%. DSCO +16%.
Midday top 10 losers: TBAC -40%. NSPH -31%. END -31%. CTL -22%. WTW -17%. STMP -16%. STRA -11%. ULTA -11%. TCX -11%. ITRI -10%. Comment! [On the Move]
Thursday, February 14, 10:45 AM CenturyLink (CTL -20.1%) crashes after getting hit with 6 downgrades in response to its Q4 miss, light guidance, and dividend cut, and is taking other high-yield rural telcos down with it. FTR -5%. WIN -7.5%. CNSL -2%. Citi, which is cutting CTL to Neutral and FTR to Sell, argues CTL's dividend cut shows the need for telcos to maintain balance sheet flexibility during a time of slow growth, strong competition, and eroding wireline voice revenue. The firm notes CTL's guidance now implies 2015 free cash flow of $3.60-$4/share, well below Citi's prior estimates. (transcript) 2 Comments [Tech, On the Move]
Thursday, February 14, 9:10 AM Premarket gainers: ART +33%. ANGI +30%. STZ +29%. HNZ +20%. SKX +10%. ROSG +7%. Z +8%. ANR +7%. BUD +5%. EQIX +5%.
Losers: AFFY -22%. NSPH -20%. WTW -17%. CTL -17%. TRIP -10%. ULTA -9%. WFM -7%. BBRY -5%. ARR -6%. WIN -5%. 1 Comment [On the Move]
Wednesday, February 13, 6:55 PM Frontier (FTR) -1.1% AH after fellow rural telco CenturyLink (CTL) misses Q4 estimates and issues light Q1 revenue and 2013 free cash flow guidance. Fitch has downgraded CenturyLink's debt to BB+ from BBB- in response to the company's new $2B stock buyback program, which (though accompanied by a dividend cut) the ratings agency believes will result in lower debt reductions over the next 2 years than it expected. CenturyLink had $20.4B in net debt as of Dec. 31. Shares -13.2% AH. 3 Comments [Tech]
Wednesday, February 13, 5:54 PM After-hours top gainers, as of 5:15 p.m.: ANGI +21%. BCOR +12%. JCOM +7%. VCLK +6%. SGEN +5%.
After-hours top losers: STMP -24%. NSPH -22%. WTW -16%. CTL -16%. ITRI -10%. Comment! [On the Move]
Wednesday, February 13, 4:34 PM More on CenturyLink's Q4: Dividend yield lowered to 5.8%, based on AH trading price. Q4 free cash flow was $610M, up from $515M in year-ago period. But 2013 free cash flow expected to fall to $3B-$3.2B from 2012's $3.33B. Regional Markets (consumer wireline) revenue -4% Y/Y to $2.45B wholesale -6% to $908M, enterprise networks +6% to $671M, enterprise hosting +12% to $292M. 2013 capex budget of $2.8B-$3B vs. $2.86B in 2012. CTL -12% AH. CC at 5PM ET (webcast). (PR) Comment! [Tech, Earnings]

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