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What Makes Altice (ATUS) an Enticing Investment Option Now?

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Despite intense market volatility, Altice USA, Inc.’s (ATUS - Free Report) earnings estimates for the current and next fiscal have increased 200% and 88.9%, respectively, since March 2023. With healthy fundamentals, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock appears to be a solid investment option at the moment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Growth Drivers

Notwithstanding challenging macroeconomic conditions associated with the challenging macroeconomic environment, Altice is on track with its five-year plan to build a FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) network and deploy its new home communications hub.

The company believes that the FTTH network will be more resilient with reduced maintenance requirements, fewer service outages and lower power usage, which is likely to lead to further cost efficiencies. This network will allow Altice to satisfy demand for increasing speeds and support evolving technologies, such as the expected transition of mobile networks to 5G and enable it to capitalize on associated revenue-growth opportunities.

Additionally, the company is building a next-generation fiber network capable of delivering broadband speeds of 10 Gbps, reflecting continued investments in technology and innovation for its customers in the United States. Total fiber broadband customers reached 250,000 by the end of second-quarter 2023, and are expected to grow at an accelerated pace.

The company is focused on accelerating its network expansion plans along with market penetration and fiber network upgrades for long-term sustainable growth. It offers a range of broadband speeds for all budgets, from Altice Advantage Internet to multi-gigabit services for enterprise customers.

Altice is placing a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction and has made significant investments to enhance its customer service. Customer calls for care and technical support have been reduced due to improvement in troubleshooting tools and self-service capabilities. These efforts are helping Altice maintain a high level of customer satisfaction, which is likely to reap long-term benefits.

The company has a market presence in some of the most populous and economically active regions of the United States, such as the New York City metro area. This gives the company a significant growth opportunity, as these regions have high demand for high-speed Internet and other telecommunications services.

The buyout of Morris Broadband, a fast-growing broadband communications services company that provides high-speed data, video and voice services to almost 36,500 customers in western North Carolina, expands Altice’s footprint in the state where it already has presence with its Suddenlink business. This deal makes North Carolina the sixth largest state for Altice in terms of the number of customers.

Also, it shows the company’s commitment to investing significantly in technology and infrastructure in the region. The buyout allows Altice to benefit from greater scale, operating efficiency and additional investments, which are at the core of its business strategy.

With a VGM Score of B, this stock appears to be an enticing investment option in the volatile market.

Other Key Picks

Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2, is likely to benefit from strong momentum and diversification across its top verticals and product lines. The company has a software-driven, data-centric approach to help customers build their cloud architecture and enhance their cloud experience. Arista has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 18.7% and delivered an earnings surprise of 12.8%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

It holds a leadership position in 100-gigabit Ethernet switching share in port for the high-speed datacenter segment. Arista is increasingly gaining market traction in 200- and 400-gig high-performance switching products and remains well-positioned for healthy growth in data-driven cloud networking business with proactive platforms and predictive operations.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. (MSI - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2, delivered an earnings surprise of 5.62%, on average, in the trailing four quarters. In the last reported quarter, it pulled off an earnings surprise of 5.58%.

Motorola provides services and solutions to government segments and public safety programs, along with large enterprises and wireless infrastructure service providers. It develops and services both analog and digital two-way radio, voice and data communications products and systems for private networks, wireless broadband systems and end-to-end enterprise mobility solutions to a wide range of enterprise markets.

Ubiquiti Inc. (UI - Free Report) , carrying a Zacks Rank #2, is another solid pick in the broader industry. Headquartered in New York, it offers a comprehensive portfolio of networking products and solutions for service providers and enterprises at disruptive prices.

Ubiquiti boasts a proprietary network communication platform that is well-equipped to meet end-market customer needs. In addition, it is committed to reducing operational costs by using a self-sustaining mechanism for rapid product support and dissemination of information by leveraging the strength of the Ubiquiti Community.

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