Macquarie Downgrades Sprint to Neutral On the Heels of Dish Lapsed Bid

Sprint S shares opened at $7.08 Wednesday morning, down over 3 percent from Tuesday's close, as investors in the name are responding to news DISH DISH let Sprint's bid deadline pass. Macquarie's Kevin Smithen reacted to the news this morning, downgrading Sprint from Outperform to Neutral and lowering his price target from $7.85 to $7.65. Smithen recommended profit-taking in Sprint as investor focus will likely shift from the acquisition towards cautious fundamentals. The analyst cited the fact that DISH did not offer a counterbid, the still-unresolved situation with Clearwire, free cash flow which is now negative, and the expectation Sprint will enter a period of heavy capital investment. Dish Network DISH called another offer for Sprint by the June 18th deadline “impracticable" and said it would turn its attention towards its offer for Clearwire CLWR. Dish shares are up 2.15 percent at last check, while Clearwire shares spiked upwards at the open and are currently up 1.43 percent.