Clearwire Under Pressure; Stock Down 5%

Clearwire

was downgraded at Jefferies this morning from Buy to Hold and the firm halved its price target on the stock from $4.00 to $2.00. The analysts wrote that "in our view, while the asset value of CLWR's spectrum remains the same, near-term bandwidth availability from VZ, and potentially DISH, could delay CLWR's spectrum sale. We believe CLWR's funding gap of $2.5 billion could become a challenge as early as 2Q13 in the absence of an asset sale." In early trade, CLWR shares plunged as low as $1.38 after opening at $1.53, but have since recovered most of their losses. At last check, the stock was trading down 4.52% at $1.48. Clearwire Corporation (Clearwire) is a provider of fourth generation (4G), wireless broadband services. The Company builds and operates next generation mobile broadband networks, which provide high-speed mobile Internet and residential Internet access services in communities throughout the country.