Patrick Drahi, a director and significant shareholder of Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS), recently sold a substantial portion of his holdings in the company. On November 12, Drahi offloaded a total of 805,227 shares of Altice USA's Class A common stock, with the sale prices ranging from $23.3164 to $25.6836 per share. The total value of these transactions amounted to approximately $19.7 million.
Following these transactions, Drahi's ownership in Altice USA stands at 29,166,683 shares. The sales were part of a series of transactions executed by Next (LON:NXT) Alt S.a.r.l., an entity indirectly controlled by Drahi. These transactions were conducted in connection with the expiration of certain capped call agreements, which were settled through the delivery of shares.
Drahi, through Next Alt, retains significant influence over Altice USA, holding rights to appoint directors to the company's board. Despite the recent sales, Drahi's stake in Altice USA remains substantial, reflecting his ongoing involvement with the company.
In other recent news, Altice-USA has been the subject of a revised price target by TD Cowen, which lowered it to $3.50 from $6.00, while maintaining a Buy rating. This follows the company's Q3 2024 performance, which revealed strong growth in fiber and mobile subscribers and ambitious near-term targets, including a reduction in capital expenditures for 2025 and an aim to achieve EBITDA margins around 40%. However, TD Cowen noted a potential slowdown in the rollout of fiber-to-the-home infrastructure due to the reduced capex forecast.
Altice-USA reported Q3 revenue of $2.2 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $862 million. The company added 47,000 new fiber customers, reaching a total of 482,000, and grew its mobile services with 36,000 new lines, totaling 420,000. Despite a decline in total and residential revenue, Altice-USA saw a significant increase in mobile services revenue and maintains a strong liquidity position with no debt maturities until 2027.
The company is focused on growing its fiber and mobile subscriber bases, aiming for over 1 million customers in each segment by 2026 and 2027, respectively. Altice-USA also anticipates reaching 500,000 fiber customers by year-end 2023. These recent developments underline the company's commitment to operational excellence and strategic growth in a dynamic telecommunications market.
InvestingPro Insights
Recent data from InvestingPro sheds additional light on Altice USA's financial position and market performance, providing context to Patrick Drahi's recent stock sale. Despite the significant share divestment by Drahi, Altice USA has shown strong market performance in recent months. InvestingPro data reveals a remarkable 64.12% price total return over the past three months, and a 32.86% return over the last six months, indicating positive investor sentiment.
However, the company faces some financial challenges. An InvestingPro Tip notes that Altice USA has not been profitable over the last twelve months, with a negative basic EPS of -$0.36. This aligns with the company's negative return on assets of -0.46% for the same period.
On a more positive note, another InvestingPro Tip suggests that net income is expected to grow this year, which could potentially improve the company's financial health. This expectation is further supported by analysts' predictions that the company will be profitable this year.
Altice USA's revenue for the last twelve months stands at $9.02 billion, with a gross profit margin of 67.63%. However, the company has experienced a revenue decline of 3.05% over the same period, which investors should monitor closely.
For those interested in a deeper analysis, InvestingPro offers 10 additional tips for Altice USA, providing a more comprehensive view of the company's financial situation and market position.
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