Mobile and broadband pair trades to consider this summer

While we have been intensively focused on such things as a Presidential intervention to prevent a Chapter 11, we admit that our mind occasionally drifts to thoughts of summer. So to help others who may have similar thoughts, we thought, in honor of summer beginning, we should provide our thoughts as to which alcohols pair best with the purchase of the stocks we cover (actually, we just asked ChatGPT and, given its attitude about intellectual property, we have no fears about just cutting and pasting what it wrote). 

• AT&T: Aged Bourbon on the Rocks: AT&T is a storied American institution with deep roots and some scar tissue. Bourbon symbolizes tradition, complexity, and a bit of a burn—a nod to that dividend and debt load.
• Verizon: Dry Martini (Extra Cold, Minimal Olive): Verizon is solid, sober, reliable. It's not flashy, but it gets the job done with clean execution—like a well-made Martini. Dry, classic, a little corporate.
• T-Mobile: Spicy Margarita or Mezcal Negroni: T-Mobile is the upstart-turned-leader—bold, irreverent, innovative. This calls for something with heat and edge—a Spicy Margarita if you believe in the brand, or a Mezcal Negroni if you're thinking about the unconventional strategy and disruptive energy.
• Altice: Bottom-Shelf Tequila in a Red Solo Cup: Altice is the hangover stock of the US broadband space—overleveraged, underinvested, and somehow still kicking. You don't sip Altice. You take a shot, wince, and immediately regret it—but maybe, just maybe, the upside is so wild it was worth the gamble.

[Jonathan Chaplin leads the US Communications Services research team at New Street Research. Blair Levin is the Policy Advisor to New Street Research.]