Investors were reasonably happy with the latest news out of Rogers Communication (TSE:RCI.B) (NYSE:RCI), as it brought 5G service to a downright unlikely place. While some wonder just how well such a plan will actually work, the fact is that it’s there, and it’s giving Rogers new life in the market, up decently in Friday afternoon’s trading. Rogers Communication announced that it’s now activated 5G service for all the stations in the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway system.
Several stations had already been activated prior to this announcement, but now, all the rest have been activated accordingly. Plus, Rogers also revealed that better 911 access has been included at said stations. Rogers first brought 5G access to some stations back in August, and so far, has seen patrons use over 411 terabytes of data while riding. So, concerns about reliability here may be, indeed, overblown. Rogers went so far as to humanize “411 terabytes” of data, describing it as the equivalent of streaming the “Barbie” movie over 99,000 times.
Building on Earlier Successes
The news comes at a good time for Rogers, as it’s already riding high on an earnings win a little over a week ago. Rogers turned in beats for both earnings and revenue while at the same time revealing that it was rapidly gaining subscribers. In fact, it pulled in an extra 52,000 subscribers compared to the same time last year. Growth from Canada’s western and eastern regions contributed most to the gain. Reports noted that Rogers’ ongoing push for “integration synergies” is proceeding apace and actually moving along more rapidly than originally expected.
Is it a Good Time to Buy Rogers Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on RCI.B stock based on 10 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 6% loss in its share price in 2023, the average RCI price target of C$71.22 per share implies 22.15% upside potential.
