AT&T shares almost hit $38 on Monday, as Elliott Management made one of its largest investments since it formed, announcing that it now owned $3.2bn of shares in the leading telecoms company.
- Check out the latest 5G stocks news for 2019
In a letter to the AT&T board, Elliott Management outlined its ‘Activating AT&T’ program, listing the reasons for its investment, which included the potential for market leadership in new technologies such as 5G.
Elliott Management specializes in investments in under-performing companies, and its letter to the board - co-signed by partner Jesse Cohn, and associate portfolio manager Marc Steinberg - outlined significant opportunities of 5G technology:
“Fortunately, the ongoing 5G transition presents AT&T with a renewed opportunity to reset the wireless narrative and reclaim market leadership. AT&T today is in prime position to be the early market leader in 5G given its premier spectrum positioning, early LTE-Advanced work and recent network improvements (driven by the FirstNet build and its one-touch strategy).
“We believe AT&T will be able to quickly move forward while its main competitors remain either spectrum-disadvantaged or distracted as they integrate major transactions. However, while AT&T is well positioned, success in 5G will require meaningful investment and improved execution; anything less and AT&T risks missing this opportunity and falling behind again.”
