“With the explosion of wireless devices and services, streaming video being just one example, there is and will be an increasing demand for wireless bandwidth. I wonder if anyone in the community can identify the leading suppliers of equipment that network carriers are/will be investing in for wireless infrastructure, as they must, considering the strains on networks that already exist.”

Eoin Treacy's view

My comment – Thank you for this question which I'm sure will be of interest to subscribers. I agree that demand for broadband services is on a secular upward trajectory. Networking is an increasingly competitive field and there are clear winners and losers.

In order to answer your question I looked at AT&T and Time Warner's suppliers. These represent two of the largest mobile and cable providers of broadband in the USA so the companies that supply networks to them should be suitable companies to analyse. I'm sure this method will not locate all of the relevant companies but I thought it would be a good place to start. We would welcome additional feedback from the Collective.

Cisco retested the 2009 low in August, broke out of a four month base in October and has been trading above the 200-day MA, which has turned upwards, since. The share encountered resistance in the region of $20 three weeks ago and has returned to test the upper side of the underlying range near $19.50. A sustained move below the MA, currently near $18.50 would be required to question recovery potential. (Also see Comment of the Day on September 19th).

Verizon retested the lower side of its decade long base in 2010 but has since rallied to test the upper side near $40, below which it has paused. It found support in the region of the 200-day MA in late January and a sustained move below $37 would be required to question medium-term scope for additional upside.

Qualcomm pulled back rather sharply in August but has held a progression of higher reaction lows since and moved to a new recovery high in February. A sustained move below $58 would be needed to begin to question medium-term scope for additional upside. (Also Comment of the Day on January 18th).