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DISH Network Corp Class A DISH

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Dish Churns Out Cash Flow During the First Quarter; Fair Value Estimate to $43

Analyst Note

| Michael Hodel, CFA |

While most of the attention around Dish Network has centered on its partnership with Amazon’s AWS and plans to launch a wireless network in Las Vegas later this year, the firm’s operating businesses quietly put up surprisingly strong first-quarter results. With margins at both the television and wireless businesses coming in stronger than we anticipated, Dish will likely generate more cash over the next couple years than we’d forecast. That cash should reduce the funding risk behind the wireless network buildout. We’re increasing our fair value estimate to $43 from $35 as a result, though we continue to caution investors that the range of potential outcomes around Dish remains very wide.

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Company Profile

Business Description

From its founding in the 1980s Dish Network has primarily focused on the satellite television business, capitalizing on technological advancements to expand its reach. The firm now serves 9 million U.S. customers via its network of owned and leased satellites. Dish launched an Internet-based television offering under the Sling brand in 2015 and now serves about 2.5 million customers on this platform. Dish’s future, however, hinges primarily on the wireless business. The firm has amassed a large portfolio of spectrum licenses over the past decade, spending more than $22 billion in the process, and is now building a nationwide wireless network. It acquired Sprint's prepaid business, serving about 9 million customers, as the entry point into the wireless retail market.

Contact
9601 South Meridian Boulevard
Englewood, CO, 80112
T +1 303 723-1000
Sector Communication Services
Industry Entertainment
Most Recent Earnings Mar 31, 2021
Fiscal Year End Dec 31, 2020
Stock Type Slow Growth
Employees 13,500

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