Dish Network Corp. shares slumped to their lowest level in more than a decade after the company said some data had been stolen in a recent ransomware attack. Separately, Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform.
(Bloomberg) — Dish Network Corp. shares slumped to their lowest level in more than a decade after the company said some data had been stolen in a recent ransomware attack. Separately, Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform.
Dish learned on Monday that some data, including potentially personal information, was extracted from its IT systems as part of an earlier cyberattack, according to a company filing. While Dish, Sling and wireless and data networks remain operational, the company said in a filing Tuesday that its internal communications, customer call centers and Internet sites have been affected.
Shares of the satellite television company fell as much as 9.2%, sinking to their lowest level since April 2009.
Dish said it’s trying to restore the affected systems and is “making steady progress.”
Shares of the company had already been under pressure in early trading even before the announcement of the data breach after Bank of America analyst David Barden hit the stock with a two-notch rating downgrade, lowering it to underperform from buy.
“We expect declining Ebitda due to adverse pay TV trends, higher marketing expenses and inflationary pressure,” Barden wrote in a note to clients. Given elevated capital expenditures, free cash flow trends are “increasingly negative for the next two years.”
BofA cut its price target on Dish to a Street-low view of $10, down from $30 previously.
Earlier this month, Dish reported fourth-quarter revenue that missed expectations, though analysts noted some positive signs in wireless subscriber trends. BofA cited the results in its downgrade.
Currently, 60% of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, while 10% have the equivalent of a sell rating. The average analyst price target is nearly $26, suggesting upside of more than 120% from its current level.
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