Craig-Hallum starts Adtran with a Buy amid global fiber investments

As previously reported prior to the open, Craig-Hallum initiated coverage of Adtran (ADTN) with a Buy rating and $15 price target. Given the company’s position as a supplier of networking and communications equipment ahead of a multiyear trend of substantial fiber investments, the firm believes there is “a meaningful upside opportunity,” the analyst tells investors. The company counts among its largest customers Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) in Germany and British Telecom in the UK, which both have substantial fiber investment plans, while strong trends in the U.S. for fiber deployments are underlined by Verizon’s (VZ) recently announced acquisition of Frontier and AT&T‘s (T) plans to expand its fiber footprint, the analyst added.