AT&T's New COM3000 For DIRECTV To Push Limits In Technology

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) unveiled COM3000, the third generation of its DIRECTV for business customers. The most attractive feature of this new video platform is that it is capable of delivering up to 138 HD channels including 4K HDR programming. The launch was announced at Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference (HITEC), Houston, the world's largest hospitality technology show.

With this platform, business owners can add channels consisting of their in-house and over-the-top feeds, one at a time. Also, with the evolution of entertainment industry, businesses will be well positioned to customize and mould video programming delivery easily and swiftly without needing to invest in the installation of extra hardware to upgrade the existing software. Guests can view content on any screen or hardware, be it TVs, smartphones, tablets, smart TVs or third party set-top boxes. The content can be delivered through varied technological infrastructural conduits like coax, Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

One industry to greatly benefit from COM3000 is the hospitality space. The platform promises the best in-room experiences offered by hotels. The hospitality industry is gaining new opportunities from AT&T’s relationship with RoomNetTV since its technology will help connect DIRECTV’s premium video to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) TV in hotels.

Large corporate headquarters, sports bars, restaurants and the likes are also expected to draw synergies from this platform. Basically, COM3000 is the ideal answer to any business in need of using multiple TVs but wants to avoid getting different receivers for each one.

AT&T is known for raising the standards of the industries it operates in. It changed the entire system of the media industry after its historic win against the Department of Justice in the Time Warner merger case. It also boasts a heavier portfolio following the partnership with NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) on its carbon reduction efforts. And now, the latest technology of COM3000 further cements its position as the future of video programming.

Price Performance

In the past three months, the stock has underperformed its industry with a loss of 11.4% compared with the industry’s 4.3% decline. It now remains to be seen whether this new technology will be able to pull up the sagging stock.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

AT&T currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry are Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ:CMTL) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) plus Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) and Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNT) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Comtech has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 5%.

Motorola has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 8%.

Ubiquiti has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 18.6%.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>