Hi Brian:
I don't own this stock, and I wouldn't buy it. After learning of the new yesterday to withdraw from the Philly market, I took the time to listen in on their CC of a few weeks ago for any inklings of forward strategy. I didn't sense any. But more importantly, I also did not get a sense that the management team in place has a true sense of the nature of this business, and perhaps is still learning how to pick & choose their markets.
I have previously wondered how they ever picked the Philly market to begin with. Did it have something to do with the proximity of their HQ in P-town? The CEO, David McCourt, is apparently from Bean Town with his heavy accent. Is this why they selected Boston as another market to enter? While Boston may in-fact be good market, I simply question strategy at this point.
One speculation I have is that when a company is operating at a loss and attempt to grow revenues toward profitability, one would want to "get operational" sooner rather than later. Boston is notorious for its bad weather, which IMHO would certainly have impact on the time to completion of any infrastructure project that requires access to the public ROWs. I just gotta think the time to completion in a sunbelt market has got to be measurably quicker than one in the Northeast, principally due to weather, city politics aside.
In short, IMHO, notwithstanding its exit from Philly, management has yet to demonstrate it knows what its doing. As I see it, time is of the essence. Franchised MSOs are aware of impending competition. The later to the overbuilder to the party, the more difficult its gonna be penetrating that market.
JMO. |
