The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: United States Cellular, Telephone and Data Systems, AT&T, Verizon Communications and Jones Lang LaSalle

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 8, 2011 – 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 United States Cellular Corp. ( USM - Analyst Report), Telephone and Data Systems Inc. ( TDS - Analyst Report), AT&T ( T - Analyst Report), Verizon Communications ( VZ - Analyst Report) and Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated ( JLL - Analyst Report).

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Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

U.S. Cellular Soars on Smartphones

United States Cellular Corp. ( USM - Analyst Report), a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc. ( TDS - Analyst Report) has reported third quarter 2011 earnings per share of 73 cents, breezing past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 55 cents. Earnings also registered a massive 66% growth from 44 cents in the year-ago period, driven by increased smartphone sales that led to high data and roaming revenues along with lower churn rates.

Net income attributable to shareholders shot up 62% year over year to $62.1 million in the reported quarter.

Third quarter revenues of $1,110.4 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,089.0 million and increased 5% from $1,060.8 million in the year-ago quarter driven by strong smartphone sales.

Revenue, ARPU & Churn

Service revenue upped 5% year over year to $1,036.6 million. Revenues from Equipment sales were up 4% year over year at $73.8 million thanks to a surge in smartphone sales, which represented approximately 39.9% of all sold devices versus 23.6% in the year-ago quarter.

The reported quarter’s retail service ARPU (average revenue per user) was $48.82 compared with $47.12 in the year-ago quarter. Post-paid churn improved to 1.5% from 1.6% in the year-ago quarter.

Subscriber Statistics

U.S. Cellular marked a better quarter compared to the prior-year quarter as net subscriber loss from retail customers of 23,000 showed a considerable improvement from 25,000 net losses in the year-ago quarter, with the total subscriber base touching 5.94 million. The company exited the quarter with a retail customer base of 5.62 million compared to 5.75 million in year-ago quarter. There were approximately 2.8 million customers under its Belief plans.

Liquidity

U.S. Cellular generated $354.1 million in cash flow from operating activities in third quarter 2011 compared with $180.3 million in the year-ago quarter and had $248 million in capital expenditures as against $124.7 million in the comparable quarter last year. The company generated free cash flow of $106.1 million versus $55.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company exited the third quarter with $505 million in cash and cash equivalents compared with $269 million in the year-ago quarter.

Guidance

For fiscal 2011, U.S. Cellular maintained its Service revenue estimate in the range of $4,000–$4,100 million and raised its operating income estimate to the range of $230–$305 million from $210–$285 million. The company’s capital expenditure projection remained unchanged at $750–$800 million.

Our Analysis

U.S. Cellular remains well positioned to benefit from the favorable response to Belief Project as well as the growing demand for smartphones that is driving growth in data services. Additionally, the company’s increased investments in advanced network technology deployment along with its expected foray into Long-Term Evolution (LTE) services in 2012 are also expected to bode well despite several integration problems, intense competition from telecom giants like AT&T ( T - Analyst Report) and Verizon Communications ( VZ - Analyst Report), pricing, regulatory pressures and economic uncertainty.

Consequently, we recommend a long-term Neutral rating on U.S. Cellular supported by a Zacks #3 (Hold) Rank.

Jones Lang’s Revenues Zoom

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated ( JLL - Analyst Report), a leading full-service real estate firm, reported third quarter 2010 net income of $33.9 million or $0.76 per share compared to $37.1 million or $0.84 in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings were $49.6 million or $1.12 per share during the reported quarter versus $38.1 million or $0.86 in the year-ago quarter. Recurring earnings for the reported quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.09.

Revenues for the reported quarter came in at $903.2 million compared to $708.4 million in the year-ago quarter. The healthy year-over-year increase in revenue was primarily due to strong revenue growth across all business segments throughout the globe and accretive effect of the acquisition of King Sturge.

Total revenues during the quarter were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $850 million. Total operating expenses were $848.9 million in the quarter compared with $646.5 million in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) were $93.7 million for third quarter 2011 compared with $78.7 million for the same period in 2010.

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Read the full analyst report on USM

Read the full analyst report on TDS

Read the full analyst report on T

Read the full analyst report on VZ

Read the full analyst report on JLL