"sorry, is al gemeld"
Dan hier zijn verhaal erbij..
Intiating Coverage With a Strong Buy Rating and $4.50 Price Target
Simon Leopold is joining Raymond James Equity Research and we initiate coverage of Alcatel-Lucent with a Strong Buy rating.
Recommendation: We are establishing a Strong Buy rating on ALU shares with a $4.50 price target. Alcatel-Lucent, a diversified provider of network equipment, software, and services to network providers, maintains strong strategic relationships with its customers, offers advanced equipment at the leading edge of technology, and can deliver improving financial metrics. Hence, we consider the stock as mispriced and offering material appreciation potential.
Improving operating metrics. In an environment with little carrier capital expenditure growth, we conservatively assume Alcatel-Lucent delivers flat sales in 2012 near €15.6 billion, yet with a favorable mix shift and cost reduction, we believe it can improve its operating margin. We model an operating margin of 5.5% vs. 4.6% consensus and 3.9% in 2011. We believe Alcatel-Lucent generates cash in 2012 and moves to a net cash position from a net debt position thus diffusing solvency concerns.
New products and share trends. Recent achievements demonstrate innovation. Alcatel-Lucent leads in many areas: wireless LightRadio, Routing 400G chip set, 100G optical, and 29,000 patents. In edge routing, it ranks second between Cisco and Juniper. Alcatel-Lucent shipped 70% of the 100G ports in the optical market, a sector where it ranks second behind Huawei and 2x Ciena’s share. In LTE (long-term evolution) Alcatel-Lucent has won with the largest, most valuable, and the earliest projects to launch.
Misperceptions. Many focus on Alcatel-Lucent’s cash position, particularly its pension and OPEB (other post-employment benefits) obligations. In 4Q11, Alcatel-Lucent had obligations of $39.9 billion, but after accounting for the fair value of the plan assets the under-funded status stood at $2.4 billion. The pension is a long-term obligation, so we argue it’s nearly offset by the value of the NOLs (net operating losses), which could be worth €1.5-1.9 billion.
Risks. Alcatel-Lucent has a spotty track record when it comes to delivering on all metrics (sales, gross margin, operating margin) in a quarter. To achieve margin improvement, it needs to reduce costs and maintain pricing discipline. Although its customer base appears healthy, Sprint’s (which represents <5% of sales/profits) health has come into question.
Estimates: Our sales and earnings estimates are near consensus for 2012 with non-GAAP EPS of €0.16/$0.21 compared to consensus of €0.16/$0.21. In 2013 we forecast non-GAAP EPS of €0.25/$0.32 vs. consensus for €0.19/$0.25.
Valuation: We see fair value at $4.50 based on a 2012 EV/sales ratio of 0.5x, which reflects a discount to more profitable peers such as Ericsson at 0.8x. Historically, Alcatel and Lucent have traded near 1x EV/sales; however, with ongoing execution risk and modest earnings, a discount
currently makes sense to us.