For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – August 10, 2009 – 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: American Tower Corp. (AMT), Crown Castle International (CCI), Tata Teleservices (TCL), Vodafone Plc (VOD) and Medtronic Inc. (MDT).
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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:
U.S. Tower Giants India-Bound
Recently, American Tower Corp. (AMT) acquired XCEL Telecom Pvt Ltd., a mobile tower operator in India. XCEL owns 1,667 towers and has another 70 towers in various stages of development. The acquisition increases the total number of American Tower controlled wireless tower sights to over 26,000. Previous to this acquisition, American Tower had entered a build-to-suit agreement with a Tier1 wireless carrier in India to construct 200 tower sites.
Crown Castle International (CCI) is currently in negotiations with two Indian tower operators, Aster Infrastructure and Independent Mobile Infrastructure Ltd. Aster is holding simultaneous negotiation with American Tower.
After China, India is the second largest growth market for wireless services where the subscriber base is expected to be 737 million by 2012. This provides a significant revenue opportunity for the U.S. tower operators. At the same time, operations in India will be low-cost for these companies, which will boost their respective bottom line.
In addition to the U.S. companies, existing major tower operators in India are also trying to merge with small players to achieve the required economies of scale to compete with global giants. Tata-Quippo, a joint venture between Tata Teleservices (TCL) and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd., Indus Towers, a joint venture between Vodafone Plc (VOD), Bharti Airtel and Idea cellular, and Reliance Telecom Infrastructure are moving aggressively to increase their size of operations.
Medtronic Wins Settlement
Medtronic Inc. (MDT) won $57 million in settlement from AGA Medical Corp. after the federal U.S. district court jury in San Francisco ruled in its favor. AGA had infringed upon two U.S. patents owned by Medtronic through the use and sale of Amplatzer Occluder and vascular plug products. Medtronic will also receive 11% in royalties from future sales of these products by AGA through 2018.
The two patents in question are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,306,141 and 5,067,957, commonly known as the Jervis patents. These patents involve technologies that require the use of metal alloys to facilitate the working of doctors in different surgical operations. Medtronic has patents for these technologies.
The new ruling is a shot in the arm for Medtronic. The additional revenue generated from this settlement will take care of the company’s bottom-line. Medtronic is a leading global medical technology company specializing in implantable and interventional therapy devices and products. The company’s deep product pipeline and strong R&D program position it well for long-term organic growth, rather than having it rely purely on acquisitions.
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