Why Are Analysts Losing Confidence in Sprint Stock?

Sprint (S) stock fell about 0.88% on Tuesday and closed the trading day at $6.78. It was trading 15.88% below the 52-week high of $8.06.

On July 26, Sprint stock hit its 52-week high after the US Department of Justice approved the proposed Sprint–T-Mobile (TMUS) merger. Since then, Sprint has been trading in a narrow range, as the merger’s future isn’t clear. Meanwhile, the stock was trading 24.63% above the 52-week low of $5.44 it saw on April 29.

Meanwhile, on a year-to-date (or YTD) basis, Sprint has gained 16.5%. Peers AT&T (T) and T-Mobile are also up this year. AT&T and T-Mobile have risen around 30.2% and 26.1%, respectively, YTD. On September 17, AT&T stock fell 0.40% and closed at $37.16, while T-Mobile stock rose 0.82% to $80.21.

Sprint’s market capitalization is $27.75 billion, while AT&T and T-Mobile have market caps of $271.53 billion and $68.54 billion, respectively.

Fourteen of 18 analysts gave Sprint stock a “hold” rating. On September 17, 5% of analysts gave it “buy” ratings, while 78% gave it “hold” ratings. About 17% of these analysts gave it “sell” ratings.

Currently, Sprint analysts have a 12-month target price of $6.81 on the stock. On September 17, the stock was trading at a discount of 0.4% to analysts’ 12-month target price. Its median target price was $6.50 on the same date.

Sprint stock’s trailing-five-day, trailing-one-month, and trailing-12-month price movements were -1.3%, -1.9%, and 7.1%, respectively. Based on its closing price on September 17, Sprint stock was trading 0.6% below its 20-day moving average of $6.82. It was trading 2.6% below its 50-day moving average of $6.96.

Sprint was trading 0.1% above its 100-day moving average of $6.77. With a 14-day RSI (relative strength index) score of 46.01, the stock is approaching the oversold zone.

On September 17, Sprint stock closed near its Bollinger Band midrange level of $6.82. This value suggests that the stock isn’t oversold or overbought.

Sprint’s current 14-day MACD (moving average convergence divergence) is -0.01. The negative score suggests a downward trading trend for the company.

The T-Mobile–Sprint merger is currently facing a lawsuit from several state attorneys general on antitrust concerns. On September 17, the Department of Justice’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, stated on the Fox Business Network, “You’re now going to have Sprint, T-Mobile combined, with the remedies we put in, providing real competition to AT&T and Verizon for the first time to consumers.” He added, “I think the consumer, particularly in the rural area, is going to win at the end of this, if the merger goes forward.”

To learn more about the deal, read T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Could Lead to Job Losses and How Dish Could Benefit from State-Led Pressure on T-Mobile.