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Ericsson Rides on 5G Momentum, Deepens Alliance With Airtel

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Ericsson (ERIC - Free Report) has been on a tear when it comes to 5G network technology. The Sweden-based telecom equipment provider currently has 111 commercial 5G agreements with communication service providers, of which 60 are publicly announced. In fact, it has 65 live 5G networks in 33 countries.

The company recently announced the extension of its long-standing partnership with Bharti Airtel, India’s largest integrated telco. Ericsson secured a new multi-year contract to deploy a radio access network (RAN) and transport solutions in the operator’s network. This agreement follows a pan-India managed services contract, renewed in July 2020.

The deployment of Ericsson’s Radio System products and solutions is expected to improve Airtel’s network capacity. Ericsson Radio System comprises hardware, software and services for radio, RAN compute, antenna system, transport, power and site solutions. It enables fast and cost-effective migration from 4G to 5G.

Ericsson is witnessing healthy momentum in its business, based on the strategy to increase investments for technology leadership, including 5G. In Networks, the company’s ongoing activities are to invest in R&D to safeguard a leading product portfolio and cost leadership; increase investments in automation and serviceability to drive down costs; and selectively gain market share based on technology and cost competitiveness.

The company has deployed 5G in high-, mid- and low-bands in different urban, suburban and rural locations. Its 5G radio access technologies provide the infrastructure required to meet the growing demand for high-bandwidth connections and support the real-time, high-reliability communication requirements of mission-critical applications.

Ericsson’s portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business. The company is optimistic regarding the long-term outlook. Considering the current visibility, it maintains the Group targets for 2020 and 2022.

Ericsson has a long-term (three to five years) earnings growth expectation of 26.3% compared with 15% of the industry. The stock has returned 32.2% compared with the industry’s growth of 24.8% in the past year.



Ericsson carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), at present.

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader industry are Corning Incorporated (GLW - Free Report) , Acacia Communications, Inc. and Harmonic Inc. (HLIT - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Corning delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 39.9%, on average.

Acacia delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 17%, on average. The company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters.

Harmonic pulled off a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 4.4%, on average. The company’s earnings topped the consensus estimate in three of the last four quarters.

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