SurgePays cut to Hold at Maxim amid Affordable Connectivity Program uncertainty

As previously reported, Maxim downgraded SurgePays to Hold from Buy with no price target. The company’s Q4 results were just below consensus, but more importantly, SurgePays disclosed that the U.S. Government’s Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, has unexpectedly stopped taking new applications in February, creating uncertainty that the program will be re-funded when its initial $14.2B in funding runs out, the analyst tells investors in a research note. SurgePays management is confident that the program will be re-funded, but Maxim is taking a more cautious view given a divided Congress in a Presidential election year, the firm added.