MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (PCS)

It's time...I like breakouts on big volume and this past Friday was a good day for that...go forth in outperformance!

Zacks rates as underperform

Stock price has been abused like the little guy in prison.

valuation puts this quite a bit higher than the current level.

ps: motley rating down from 94th percentile due to inactivity here.. for what it's worth.

Very solid fundamentals, 52 week low, revenue is consistently increasing. But cell phone microwaves cause colony collapse disorder for bees! Therefore I think the price will go up but I am very conflicted about picking it to outperform.

Once they implement 4G and better phones this will be a goldmine.

Nothing goes straight down forever

will continue to grow. lowest cost per minute of any provider i know of. Needs to get better phones to lure more customers.

bottom hunting

Even with Walmart, AT&T, and others offering flex, no contract services, the market is still expanding, and I think there is room for everyone in this market.

Bottom Hunting.

In an unstable market we will see more and more people select cell phone companies with no contract. This company offers continuous service w/monthly bill (not prepaid) but no penalty for canceling if life changes

there is number 1 and number 2. To be or hold number 1, they have to grasp number 3.

that's it.. -_-

I like MetroPCS as a speculative outperform because of their role as a disruptive, dark-horse player in the wireless market. Consumers have been complaining for years about the tactics that the major U.S. wireless carriers have done business with them: long-term contracts, complicated plans with varying rules on daytime/nighttime/weekend/family minutes, nickel-and-diming on "activation" and usage fees (especially text/picture messaging), and so forth. MetroPCS is attempting to capitalize on this widespread discontent by offering cheap, no-contract, easy-to-understand wireless plans, most of which feature unlimited national calling and text messaging. In essence, they are striving to become the one cell-phone company that actually delivers what their customers want.

In pursuit of that lofty goal, MetroPCS faces quite a few obstacles as a smaller, less-established carrier. Their coverage is (as their name suggests) mostly limited to major metropolitan areas, their finances (1.7 debt/equity, negative tangible book value) leave something to be desired, and their 2Q09 results were disappointing. However, I think Metro's focus on heavily marketing their simple, cheap "unlimited" plans during this recession has resonated with consumers, and as a result there is pressure mounting on the major carriers to make their offerings more user-friendly in order to retain their expiring contracts. If the likes of Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are too slow or too out-of-touch to respond to this growing demand (and history suggests that they will be), MetroPCS will be one of the primary beneficiaries of the customer churn that will follow. And if Metro can successfully partner with / acquire other upstart and regional carriers (e.g. Leap wireless) to expand their coverage area, their unlimited plans are going to be all the more enticing.

Bottom line: MetroPCS offers something that many people clearly want, and has the potential to be a disruptive force in its sector. At under $10, it is a pretty decent speculative buy.

merger

Prepaid is the fastest growing segment in telecom and Metro PCS has its select markets saturated. This cost them some money during the downturn, but they stand to gain customers very quickly when the economy jump-starts and customers will not want to get tied down to a long term contract. Also, the first to provide unlimited international long distance for only $5 a month extra. Very competitive and a real contender for market share in large metro areas where they operate.

Thanks d1david, great growth pot.

Their revenue growth is impressive, you'd think they'd start laying down some serious profits eventually. With that in mind I don't think the P/E is too bad, it's cheaper now, so now's the time.

Merger with Leap will happen and the stock price will be pushed higher.

The stock has an MSN stock scouter rating of 8 and I think it has the potential to double. The forward PE is 6.67