Dish Network shares were up more than 3% in early trading Monday after influential media analyst Craig Moffett raised his rating on the stock from “sell” to “neutral” and upping his 12-month price target on the stock to $40 from $15, adding that its recent MVNO deal with AT&T erases the biggest overhang on the shares.

In a research note Monday (July 26), Moffett said the biggest weight on Dish stock had been the 2027 expiration of its MVNO deal with T-Mobile, a deadline that the analyst had said previously would make it difficult for the satellite TV pioneer to build out the remainder of its network after that date. But the AT&T agreement, which is essentially for 12 years, pushes that MVNO agreement out to 2033, giving the company the ability to be a hybrid Mobile Network Operator/MVNO “indefinitely.” 

Dish has said it will launch its first 5G wireless market -- Las Vegas -- in the third quarter. In June it launched a website -- Project Gene5is -- that will provide consumers updated information on the launch and possibly gauge interest in the service in markets outside of Las Vegas. 

Also Read: Cable Wireless Grows Up 

“Now, with the stroke of a pen, all those rakes are off the table,” Moffett wrote. “Dish is virtually assured a path to viability.”

Dish shares responded accordingly, rising as high as $43.41 each (up $1.73, or 4.2%) in early trading July 26. The shares were trading at $43.10 (up 3.4%) at 10:50 a.m. on Monday. 

Moffett has been a critic, along with several other analysts, concerning Dish’s wireless prospects, saying in reports several years ago that the company’s claims it could build a nationwide wireless network for $10 billion was dangerously low.  

Also Read: Dish Wireless Pushes Forward 

Moffett still harbors those fears. In the most recent report he noted that the  AT&T deal won’t help the build out at all (Dish is required by federal mandate to make its network available to 70% of the country by 2023) and he estimated that its $10 billion price tag is still incredibly low. But the AT&T deal removed the worst-case scenario from the table, he added.

But making the wireless business easier for Dish doesn’t necessarily bode well for the remaining wireless players. Although Dish will pay AT&T about 4% billion over the life of the MVNO deal, it also allows the satellite company to pick and choose which markets it will build out itself -- most likely the denser, more profitable ones -- and leave the more sparsely populated areas to AT&T.  

“Good news for Dish is bad news for the industry,” Moffett wrote. “We are incrementally more bearish about AT&T and Verizon, and less bullish about T-Mobile, than we were before.”   

B Riley media analyst Daniel Day raised his 12-month price target on WideOpenWest to $30 per share from $28, adding in a note to clients that the overbuilder’s decision to sell off some assets for about $1.8 billion will lead to more robust cash flow growth and better position it for continued network expansion.

WOW said Wednesday that it would sell systems in five markets -- Cleveland and Columbus Ohio; Anne Arundel, Maryland; Chicago; and Evansville, Indiana -- to Atlantic Broadband and Astound Broadband for $1.786 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

Day, who earlier in the week raised his target on WOW to $28 from $26 per share, said the deal warranted another price increase, based on new projections for cash flow growth. In his July 1 note, Day said that while his earlier price increase took potential asset sales into consideration, the size of the actual deal “was a surprise to us.”

WOW has said it will use the proceeds from the deals to reduce leverage from its current 5 times cash flow to about 2.5 times, as well as fund ongoing edge-out and greenfield expansion to its network.

WOW stock soared on news of the deal, rising as much as 17% ($3.09) to $21.34 per share on June 30, before closing at $20.71 each, up 13.5%. Shares were up about 1% in early trading July 1 to $20.92 each. 

“In our view, yesterday's positive market reaction to the announcement was warranted, and we see continued upside for shares,” Day said in his July 1 note to clients. He based his new price target on the shares on revised 2022 cash flow estimates ($320 million versus his prior estimate of $288 million) and a boost in the assigned enterprise value/EBITDA multiple on the stock to 10.5 times from 10 times. 

Day had pointed out in an earlier note the disparity between private and public valuations of cable, noting that the WOW deal is valued at about 11 times cash flow while the company’s public trading multiple is about 8 times. Other past private cable deals have been valued between 12- and 15- times cash flow, he noted.

WOW is expected to use its nearly $1 billion in Net Operating Loss carry-forwards to offset the tax hit on the sales -- Day estimated that net proceeds to the company would be about $1.4 to $1.5 billion.

Day also was encouraged by the increased penetration rates at the systems it will keep -- WOW estimated that after the deal, overall penetration of services will rise to 29% from 26%. That, according to Day, likely means that WOW is keeping properties where it is more “incumbent-like” instead of an overbuilder, which should also lead to further multiple expansion. 

“By pursuing edge-out and expansion strategies in markets that have higher expected penetration rates, WOW lowers the capex associated with each new inorganic subscriber added,” Day wrote.

As a result, Day is lowering his capex estimates for 2022 to $155 million from $225 million.       

Southeastern Conference fans will be able to see their football in high-definition on Verizon FiOS for the rest of the season.

After launching the SEC Network in standard-definition on Aug. 28 -- except in Florida and Texas, part of the conference's 11-state territory,  where the service was available in HD from the outset -- the telco on Sept. 18 upgraded its presentation to the enhanced format throughough its footprint  

SEC Network in HD  is now available to FIOS Extreme or Ultimate TV subscribers on channel 575 in all states where the network is offered, save  for in Kent, Deleware where it will be located on channel 576 through the end of 2014. The standard version of the channel is positioned on channel 75.

This Saturday  that means FiOS Extreme and Ultimate TV customers can check out the SEC Network football tripleheader comprising Georgia-Troy, Missouri-Indiana and South Carolina-Vanderbilt.

Verizon FiOS announced the format amelioration in a blog post on Sept. 16.

Owned and operated by ESPN, SEC Network is one of the most successful launches in cable history. Launching on Aug. 14, the service counts some 62 million subscribers during its freshman season, and is available to more than 95 million homes.