AT&T shares almost hit $38 on Monday, as Elliott Management made one of its largest investments since it formed, announcing that it now owned $3.2bn of shares in the leading telecoms company.
- Check out the latest 5G stocks news for 2019
In a letter to the AT&T board, Elliott Management outlined its ‘Activating AT&T (opens in new tab)’ program, listing the reasons for its investment, which included the potential for market leadership in new technologies such as 5G.
Elliott Management specializes in investments in under-performing companies, and its letter to the board - co-signed by partner Jesse Cohn, and associate portfolio manager Marc Steinberg - outlined significant opportunities of 5G technology:
“Fortunately, the ongoing 5G transition presents AT&T with a renewed opportunity to reset the wireless narrative and reclaim market leadership. AT&T today is in prime position to be the early market leader in 5G given its premier spectrum positioning, early LTE-Advanced work and recent network improvements (driven by the FirstNet build and its one-touch strategy).
“We believe AT&T will be able to quickly move forward while its main competitors remain either spectrum-disadvantaged or distracted as they integrate major transactions. However, while AT&T is well positioned, success in 5G will require meaningful investment and improved execution; anything less and AT&T risks missing this opportunity and falling behind again.”
