Craig Moffett: Not Just a Cable Guy
09/02/08 - 10:36 AM EDT
Robert Holmes
Craig Moffett is the senior analyst for U.S. Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite at Sanford Bernstein. He's also a "jester" and an "idiot" -- if you believe blog and message board authors ruffled by his take on Verizon's (VZ Quote - Cramer on VZ - Stock Picks) FiOS broadband service.
As a New York Times article recently noted, Moffett has argued that the capital involved in Verizon's rollout of FiOS could be a gigantic bet -- with little hope for a meaningful return. While the service is loved by consumers, Moffett said it may not be great for Verizon investors. Needless to say, champions of the broadband strategy were up in arms with his analysis. "I saw all of those same blog posts," Moffett says. "I was joking that two-thirds of those posts amounted to 'Craig Moffett is an idiot because FiOS is such a good product.' I don't disagree it's a really good product. It is a really good product. But is it a money-making product?" Much of the venom aimed at Moffett comes from the view that he's really a cable analyst who is biased against telcos. After all, he has been the cable and satellite analyst for Bernstein since 2002, earning the top analyst spot of the Institutional Investors' All-American-Research Poll in 2006 and 2007. It was only last year that he added coverage of the telecom sector and, despite consulting to Verizon for 10 years, he's branded by many as a telecom newbie. " I was a telecom guy for 15 years before I even looked at cable," he says. " I still think of myself as the telecom guy that also happens to cover the cable stocks. Not the other way around."
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