Iridium upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank upgraded Iridium to Buy from Hold with an unchanged price target of $57. With the stock having pulled back by 21% since the company reported Q2 earnings, the firm sees an attractive entry point, the analyst tells investors. The main cause of the weakness is concern around the direct-to-device opportunity as management has pushed out the rollout to 2024 and conveyed a “conservative tone about the initial contribution.” However, while usage could “indeed be low at the onset,” the firm thinks smartphone OEMs remain very committed to deploying satellite connectivity features, which should benefit Iridium as it receives a per device royalty regardless of end-user utilization, the analyst tells investors.