Iridium initiated with a Hold at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of Iridium (IRDM) with a Hold rating and $61 price target as the firm expands the scope of its coverage within the Space sector to satellite communication. The firm expects satellites to enable fast and seamless connectivity across the globe and believes Iridium “stands at the intersection of the old and new guard” by taking a best-in-class legacy infrastructure and leveraging it for both traditional and next-gen use cases. While the firm contends that Iridium looks well positioned to take the leading position in narrow and mid-band communications, or L-band, and sees optionality in the direct-to-device opportunity with Iridium joining forces with Qualcomm (QCOM), the firm argues that the current valuation is “fair” with the stock already trading in-line with high quality fiber/tower comps.