Long-time Verizon bear Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research turned less bearish Tuesday raising his rating to neutral on the stock, saying the iPhone risk "favors Verizon."
While far from a whole-hearted embrace of Verizon, the upgrade does point out that AT&T has far more to lose if the iPhone goes to Verizon. "I wanted to be incredibly careful not to throw my hat into the ring by speculating who might and who might not get the iPhone," Moffett said of his understated praise for Verizon. Clearly, the big loser in the iPhone race would be AT&T if the phone went to another carrier. Apple fans wouldn't hesitate to switch service providers to get their hands on the latest version of their beloved phone. AT&T would see a crushing defection of some of its highest paying customers, should they lose the iPhone exclusivity edge. Verizon has a strong new bond with Google(GOOG) and Motorola(MOT) over Android phones, and smartphones from Research In Motion(RIMM) and Palm(PALM) give Verizon one of its strongest lineups in years. Verizon could be content to wait until a 4G wireless version of the iPhone is ready, and that could be awhile. --Reported by Scott Moritz in New YorkRELATED STORIES
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| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note |
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| 12,393.45 | 1,310.33 | 2,827.34 | 15.81 |
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