The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AT&T, Nokia, Qualcomm, T-Mobile US and Talisman Energy

CHICAGO, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include the AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK-Free Report), Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq:QCOM-Free Report), T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE:TMUS-Free Report) and Talisman Energy Inc. (NYSE:TLM-Free Report).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday's Analyst Blog:

AT&T to Offer New Nokia Smartphone

In order to expand its smartphone portfolio, AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T-Free Report) – one of the leading carriers in the U.S. – plans to introduce the new Nokia Corporation's (NYSE:NOK-Free Report) Lumia 925 smartphone. Priced at $99.99, the handset is expected to hit the AT&T stores by Sep 13, 2013 with a two-year contract. In fact, presales are expected to begin from today.

Nokia Lumia 925 is based on the Windows 8 platform and has a 4.5 inch AMOLED WXGA touchscreen. It also features an 8.7 MP PureView camera supporting HD video recordings and optical image stabilization. The device is powered with Qualcomm Inc.'s (Nasdaq:QCOM-Free Report) 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and well supported with 16 GB internal memory.

Under AT&T's Next plan, the subscribers have to pay $21 per month to get Lumia 925. After T-Mobile US, Inc. (NYSE:TMUS-Free Report), AT&T will launch a slimmer version of the Lumia flagship phone. However, AT&T will be selling an exclusive black colored Lumia 925 unlike T-Mobile US' silver and white handsets.

AT&T was the first carrier in the country to launch Nokia's first LTE-based Window smartphone, Nokia Lumia 900. Thus, with Lumia 925, AT&T will have all Lumia flagship phones in its portfolio.

AT&T continues to support its 4GLTE deployment plan with an extended 4GLTE handset line-up. Hence, we believe that the availability of such strong popular 4GLTE-based smartphones will continue to expand the subscriber base of the company. Moreover, such a high-end smartphone line-up with a two-year service contract will accelerate service revenues, going forward.

Currently, AT&T Inc. has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Talisman Energy Slips to Sell

On Aug 28, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Canadian energy explorer, Talisman Energy Inc. (NYSE:TLM-Free Report) to a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Why the Downgrade?

Talisman witnessed sharp downward estimate revisions after reporting a disappointing second-quarter 2013 result. In fact, Talisman delivered negative earnings surprises in each of the last 7 quarters with an average miss of 131.6%.   

Last month, Talisman reported second-quarter 2013 loss per share of 3 cents against the Zacks Consensus Estimate of earnings of 4 cents and the year-ago earnings of 7 cents per share. The loss was mainly due to decreased production along with lower oil and liquids price realizations.

Talisman's quarterly oil and liquids volumes were down by a substantial 34.6% year over year to 98,959 barrels per day (Bbl/d), owing to significantly lower production in the North Sea. Moreover, due to decreased production in North America and North Sea, Talisman's natural gas volumes were down 14.4% to 1,369 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), as compared to 1,599 MMcf/d in the year-ago period.  

Also, cash flow from continuing operations during the quarter totaled $526.0 million, down 34.5% from the second quarter of 2012.  

Lastly, Talisman depends on property acquisitions to expand its resource base. The company may find it difficult to complete accretive transactions in the future, which could negatively impact its growth rate.

As a result of these bearish factors, the tendency for a downward estimate revision has been more obvious in recent times. In fact, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter 2013 decreased 14.3% to 6 cents per share over the last 30 days. For 2013, more than half of the estimates (6 out of 10 estimates) were revised downward over same time frame, bringing down the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a whopping 61.1% to 7 cents per share.  

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