Analysts Downgrade Altice USA - Read Why - Altice USA (NYSE:ATUS)

Two analysts downgraded Altice USA Inc ATUS.
Societe Generale analyst Nick Lyall downgraded Altice USA to Hold from Buy with a $12 price target (8% upside).
Competition has cut growth and forced management to accelerate the fiber roll-out. While acknowledging that this is a "sensible move," the risks are high, the analyst noted.
See Altice USA's Acceleration Of Fiber Deployment Strategy
Also see Altice USA's Q4 Results
Evercore ISI analyst James Ratcliffe also downgraded Altice USA to In-Line from Outperform with a price target of $15, down from $25 (35% upside).
The re-rating follows the company's decision to go all-in on fiber with an "aggressive" plan to reach 6.5 million fiber homes by year-end 2025.
His argument is not that these fiber investments are necessary but "rather that they're fundamentally defensive."
Racliffe estimates that nearly 4.9 million of the ~5.4 million fiber homes the company plans to build in 2022-25 will be upgrades of the company's existing footprint rather than expansion into new addressable markets.
Given the long-term nature of the company's investments, and lack of certainty about returns, Ratcliffe is moving to the sidelines.
Price Action: ATUS shares traded higher by 0.14% at $11.08 on the last check Wednesday.

Analysts Downgrade Altice USA - Read Why