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Here's Why You Should Buy Rogers Communications (RCI) Stock

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On Sep 25, 2017, Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI - Free Report) , the largest integrated telecom operator in Canada, was upgraded by a notch to Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the past three months, the price performance of Rogers Communications was impressive. The stock price increased 7.8% against the industry’s growth of 0.8% over the same time frame.



Rogers Communications remains the first wireless operator in Canada to offer Internet of Things as a service to business enterprises. End-to-End Incident Management, Farm & Food Monitoring and Level Monitoring are the three IoT services that the wireless carrier currently offers. The company expects the Canadian IoT market size to reach a value of $13.5 billion by 2019. Wireless networks will provide the primary impetus to the telecom industry. So, Rogers Communications’ increasing traction in this space bodes well.

The company continues to roll out 700 MHz LTE “lower block” spectrum which provides better in-building penetration and rural LTE coverage. Meanwhile, Rogers Communications’ wireless operations accounted for nearly 56.99% of its total revenue in the second quarter of 2017. As of Jun 30, Rogers Communications’ postpaid wireless subscriber base totaled 8.710 million. In the second quarter, the company added 93,000 postpaid wireless subscribers. Quarterly postpaid ARPA (average revenue per account) was around $124.31 compared with $116.06 in the year-ago quarter. The monthly churn rate was 1.05% versus 1.14% in the prior-year quarter. The company has been able to attain favorable trends in churn and net additions on the back of its high-quality network, value-added content offerings and sustained improvements in customer experience.

The company’s wireless and cable segment has been doing well with huge wireless and high-speed Internet subscriber gain. Rogers Communications added a net of 11,000 high-speed Internet customers in the second quarter of 2017. Internet revenues were $298.69 million, up 7% year over year. Rogers Communications has introduced IGNITE Gigabit Internet to deliver speeds of 1 gigabit to its entire cable network of 4.2 million homes. As of Jun 30, the high-speed Internet subscriber count was 2.186 million. Rogers Communications’ postpaid wireless subscriber base totaled 8.710 million as of the same date. In the second quarter, the company added 93,000 postpaid wireless subscribers.

Rogers' Media arm inked two important deals, one with The Weather Company and the other an extended deal with Iowa-based media conglomerate company, Meredith Corporation. Further, the company is on the lookout for opportunities in these already developed radio stations.

In December 2016, Rogers Communications announced plans to dump its Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) platform and adopt Comcast Corporation’s (CMCSA) cloud-based X1 video platform. Using this, the company aims to provide its customers with an advanced seamless and connected TV experience, at home as well as outside.

The company’s focus on the business enterprise segment looks good. The company acquired Internetworking to provide enhanced services to its business customers. Additionally, the company launched Rogers Public Cloud, a cloud infrastructure as-a-service (IaaS) solution that will allow its business customers to securely manage critical data, applications, servers, systems software and network resources over the Internet.

Further, the company announced that the launch of Rogers Unison service that will allow legacy landline features in a mobile phone. This service is particularly aimed at small businesses. We believe that such innovative service launches for business customers will yield benefits in terms of higher revenues going forward.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked companies in the Consumer Discretionary sector include Shaw Communications Inc. and Naspers Ltd. (NPSNY - Free Report) ,  carrying a Zacks Rank # 2, and WideOpenWest, Inc. (WOW - Free Report) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1.

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