Leading unlimited wireless carrier MetroPCS Communications (PCS) reported better-than-expected third-quarter 2009 results with earnings per share (EPS) of 21 cents outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 9 cents, as well as the prior-year quarter EPS of 13 cents. Net income increased 64% year over year to $73.6 million, driven by healthy revenue growth across all segments. Revenue & EBITDA Consolidated revenues of $895.6 million reflect 30.4% year-over-year increase, fuelled by 33% annualized growth in service revenue that reached $812.3 million (91% of total sales). Equipment revenue was $83.3 million, up 9.5% year over year. Revenues at the Core Markets segment increased 18.6% year over year to $809 million. Northeast Markets revenues grew to $87 million from $5 million reported a year-ago. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA increased 35% year over year to $272 million. ARPU & Churn Reported ARPU (average revenue per user) of $41.08 ...

America Movil (AMX) reported results for third-quarter 2009 with earnings per ADS of 86 cents edging past the Zacks Consensus Estimates of 85 cents while increasing 22.6% from the year-ago earnings per ADS of 70 cents. Net profit surged 50.6% year over year to 18.7 billion pesos (US$1.4 billion) or 0.57 pesos per share. This healthy growth was fuelled by higher revenue and lower financing costs which fell 82.5% year over year due to gains stemming from favorable exchange rate swings.  Revenue & EBITDA Latin America’s largest wireless carrier continues to register a double-digit revenue growth as evident from the 16.9% year over year increase in consolidated revenue in the quarter to 99.8 billion pesos (US$7.5 billion), driven by 19.5% growth in service revenue. Revenue growth was supported by healthy business momentum across 3G wireless and broadband Internet businesses.  Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was 40.4 ...

T-Mobile USA, the US subsidiary of German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DT), has reportedly introduced a new unlimited wireless service plan that comes without any annual service contract. This move represents the company’s latest initiative to counter strong competition from its larger peers in the domestic wireless market.  Under the new service plan, customers can enjoy unlimited voice, text and Web access services for $79.99 per month without entering into any long-term contract. This represents a $20 discount on the company’s standard $99.99 unlimited monthly rate plan for a two-year service contract. Subscribers to the $79.99 monthly plan, however, have to pay more for their cellphone handsets than the regular contract-bound customers.  T-Mobile USA is the fourth largest US wireless carrier with 33.5 million subscribers. However, the company is contending in an increasingly consolidating industry. Verizon (VZ) has emerged as the largest wireless provider in ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 13, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: AT&T (T), Sprint Nextel (S), Deutsche Telecom (DT), MetroPCS (PCS) and Leap Wireless (LEAP).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

AT&T Unveils Pre-Paid Plan

AT&T (T) has introduced a new unlimited monthly calling plan for the prepaid wireless market. Starting today, customers subscribing to the company prepaid wireless services receive unlimited voice calls, instant messaging as well as text, picture and video messaging for just $60 a month. However,

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AT&T (T) has introduced a new unlimited monthly calling plan for the prepaid wireless market. Starting today, customers subscribing to the company prepaid wireless services receive unlimited voice calls, instant messaging as well as text, picture and video messaging for just $60 a month. However, the plan does not cover iPhone users. Apart from the U.S., the new unlimited plan covers Mexico, Canada and over 100 countries worldwide. Roaming within the U.S. is free of cost. This prepaid rate plan is about 50% lower than the company’s regular postpaid unlimited (voice and text) service plan. AT&T offers its prepaid services under the "GoPhone" brand, which does not require the customer to sign long-term contracts and keep a minimum deposit. While the company remains a dominant player in the postpaid market (representing 86% of the company’s total net customer additions), it is struggling to retain customers in ...

• MetLife (NYSE:MET) shares fell 7.4% after the shares were downgraded by Raymond James Financial on valuation concerns

• Sepracor (NASDAQ:SEPR) shares jumped 26.5% on reports that Japanese firm Dainippon has agreed to acquire the company in a $2.7 billion deal

• Credit Suisse raised its ratings on Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) and Motorola (NYSE:MOT), expecting benefits from the under-served corporate market, with both likely to benefit from cost cutting measures

• Some reports say AT&T (NYSE:T) is planning an offer to acquire Leap Wireless (NASDAQ:LEAP)

• Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) was ordered to pay a $2.3 billion civil settlement regarding its withdrawn pain medication Bextra and other drugs

• Hovnanian (NYSE:HOV) reported a wider-than-expected fiscal third quarter loss of $2.16 a share, versus Zacks estimates of a $1.60 per share loss as revenues of $387.1 million, were slightly above Zacks estimates of $385 million

• Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN) reported a narrower than expected fiscal third quarter loss of

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Sprint Nextel (S) reportedly received approval from the Federal Trade Commission for its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA (VM). With this antitrust clearance, the company has successfully crossed the first major hurdle in taking over the prepaid wireless reseller. The deal, now subject to consent of Virgin shareholders and other regulatory sanctions, is expected to close in late 2009 or early 2010.

Last month, Sprint announced the acquisition for $483 million and committed to retire all outstanding debt of Virgin on a successful closure of the transaction. Sprint currently owns 13.1% stake in Virgin Mobile USA (a joint venture between UK’s Virgin Group and Sprint), which uses the company’s network to offer prepaid wireless services to roughly 5.2 million subscribers in the U.S.

Sprint remains significantly challenged by the dismal economic environment which has contributed to the precipitous decline in subscriber base and associated revenue. In contrast,

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This is part 2 of my Key Telecom Trends article.  Part 1 can be read by clicking here. Two other trends in Telecommunications over the past few years that should have a significant impact in the future are:

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) emerged on the commercial scene in 2004 harnessing the power of broadband internet connections to deliver unlimited voice plans, both local and long distance, over an internet connection.  VOIP has enabled co-workers within a firm or from different companies to communicate through video conferencing.  Cisco’s (CSCO) Telepresence has been a successful enterprise VOIP system for businesses to communicate in a real-lifelike conference room.  It has also seen substantial growth over the past year as companies seek to cut travel expenses in a recession, replacing it with videoconferencing like Telepresence.  From a consumer perspective, VOIP has became increasingly attractive in

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Harbinger CapitalHarbinger Capital | 13F Hedge Fund HoldingsThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com’s Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.Harbinger Capital is a $13.8 Billion firm ran by Philip Falcone. Taken from StreetInsider, Harbinger is “a disciplined, value investor with an emphasis on intensive credit research. Its focus is on middle market companies that tend to be misunderstood or under-researched by the market. Investment approaches include:Restructuring/Bankruptcy, Turnaround, Liquidation, Event Driven, Capital Structure Arbitrage, Short Sale and Special Situations.” At one point during this year, they were up as much as 42% (more on that below).So, now that we’ve got a background on Harbinger Capital, let’s …

Maverick CapitalMaverick Capital Management Holdings AnalysisThis post is being written as part of HedgeFundBlogger.com's Investment Securities Tool which analyzes the holdings of hedge fund managers.Lee Ainslie started Maverick Capital back in 1993 with $38 million. Nowadays, the fund is worth $10 billion. Ainslie, like many of the other fund managers I've profiled, has a background rooted in learning from legendary great Julian Robertson at Tiger Management. So, due to the fact that these proteges learned from the best and have had great success running their own hedge funds, I continually try to find a reason not to follow these funds. And, needless to say I'm never successful. Some contacts over at Maverick have explained that their hedge fund strategy is straight up stock picking, both long and short. They made ...