Wunderlich Securities Believes NFL Sunday Ticket Deal Is Good For DirecTV

In a report published Thursday, Wunderlich Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan reiterated a Hold rating and $95.00 price target on

. In the report, Wunderlich Securities noted, “DirecTV's (DTV) stock was up 1.5% in the after-market after a press release announcing a new NFL Sunday Ticket deal. This negates AT&T's (T-NR) out in backing away from the $95 per share merger, a timely sale price given uncertain market conditions. It also conforms with CEO Mike White's confidence in continued exclusivity. We are pleased by the supposed but not official eight-year deal duration per SportsBusiness Journal, as we thought the NFL would have hesitations on a long-term deal given the accelerating evolution of digital streaming. The $12B total/$1.5B annual price is also within WSI's 2015 programming cost template and the increase is at the low end of DirecTV guidance. We view DTV as a relative market sell-off safe haven as we view full regulatory approval as quite likely.” DirecTV closed on Wednesday at $86.59.