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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Ericsson, Cisco, Comtech, Verizon and Apple

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL –February 12, 2019 – 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: LM Ericsson (ERIC - Free Report) , Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) , Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (CMTL - Free Report) , Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ - Free Report) and Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Monday’s Analyst Blog:

Trump to Ban Chinese Telecom Equipment? Winners & Losers

According to a recent report by POLITICO, President Donald Trump is likely to sign an executive order banning Chinese telecom equipment from being used for U.S. wireless networks. The executive order is anticipated to be signed next week, ahead of Mobile World Congress, scheduled for Feb 25-28 at Barcelona, Spain.

Trump administration’s plan to issue the directive is part of its core principles to protect the United States from external cyber threats, especially from China. Imposition of user restrictions stems from U.S. administration’s concern for national security and will primarily target Chinese telecom equipment behemoths Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

National Security Concerns Dominate Telecom Space

Trump administration is deeply concerned about China’s drive to unseat the United States as the primary developer and supplier in the fields of high-tech artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing and various other digital technology driven sectors.

In fact, in 2018, the U.S. government made AT&T drop Huawei smartphones from its offerings. Meanwhile Qualcomm was barred from selling its chipsets to either Huawei or ZTE owing to apprehensions of Chinese spying on Americans utilizing these high-tech products. This move is testament to the fiercely aggressive stance that the U.S. government is adopting in order to protect innovative next-generation products of U.S. tech giants.

Recent Move by the US Against Chinese Tech Giants

On Jan 28, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Chinese telecom behemoth Huawei Technology’s CFO Meng Wanzhou and the daughter of the company’s founder and president Ren Zhengfei. The Justice Department is seeking their extradition from Canada, following their arrest on Dec 1. Huawei was charged for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and a 2014 civil trade secrets lawsuit filed by T-Mobile US for stealing trade secrets.

On Jan 24, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC that the United States is still "miles and miles" away from a deal with China. On Jan 22, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow confirmed that the U.S. government has rejected a trade planning meeting with China on the ground of disagreements over intellectual property rights.

A major concern for the Trump administration is that China is stealing intellectual property from U.S. companies by unfair means. This is the central point of trade conflict between the two largest trading countries of the world. On Dec 17, federal prosecutors of the Department of Justice leveled charges on two Chinese hackers on account of hacking valuable technologies of the U.S. high-tech firms.

In December 2018, several key politico-economic allies of the United States such as Japan, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also banned Huawei Technology from selling its products in those countries.

Winners and Losers

President Trump has given enough indication that his administration will take special interest in the functioning of the telecom industry. The safeguarding of the highly valuable patents of the American tech heavy companies from the Chinese dragon is of foremost importance to the American eagle.

If President Trump finally bans Chinese equipment from US wireless networks, U.S. and European tech behemoths will be the primary beneficiaries. Major telecom equipment makers such as LM Ericsson, Cisco Systems Inc. and Comtech Telecommunications Corp. will gain. Comtech carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

On the other hand, large telecom operators and tech giants like Verizon Communications Inc. and Apple Inc. will stand to lose the most. These firms depend on low-cost Chinese high-tech equipment for their profitability.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit http://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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