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Lumen (LUMN) Concludes Debt Deal, Focuses on Transformation

Lumen Technologies LUMN announced that it has completed the transactions as contemplated in the earlier amended and restated transaction support agreement (TSA) entered with certain creditors of the company.

In November 2023, the company entered into a debt-restructuring agreement with a set of creditors holding $7 billion in debt.

Again, in January 2024, Lumen entered into an amended and restated TSA with a wider group of creditors. The company, during fourth-quarter 2023 earnings results, highlighted that the restated agreement, which, when completed, will address maturities of $9 billion of debt (which includes more than 77% of debt maturing through 2027).

Lumen Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus

Lumen Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus
Lumen Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus

Lumen Technologies, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Lumen Technologies, Inc. Quote

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LUMN now has a strong liquidity position, which includes the closing of a new $1 billion revolving credit facility (maturing in June 2028) and completion of the private placement of $1.325 billion principal amount of senior secured notes (maturing November 2029).

Looking at the company’s maturity debt profile, total maturities outstanding for 2025 to 2026 have reduced to $600 million from $2.1 billion earlier. Total maturities outstanding for 2027 are now $800 million compared with $9.5 billion earlier.

Lumen noted that it achieved participation in the TSA transactions of more than $15 billion of outstanding debt and commitments of the company and its subsidiaries.

For term loan transactions open to all lenders, LUMN noted that it achieved 94.4% participation for the Lumen TLA/A-1 term loans and 98.5% for the Lumen TLB term loans. It achieved 99.5% participation for the Level 3 TLB term loans.
With the completion of this debt deal and strengthened liquidity, the company is now focusing on the execution of business transformation.

Based in Monroe, LA, Lumen is an international facilities-based technology and communications company, which operates one of the most interconnected networks globally.

LUMN’s performance is gaining from continued momentum in cloud and colocation, along with heavy investment in the Quantum fiber and enterprise business. The company added 20,000 Quantum fiber subscribers, taking the count to 916,000 at the end of the fourth quarter.

Lumen is simplifying operations and as part of that, it recently completed the sale of its EMEA business and certain CDN contracts.

As of Dec 31, 2023, the company had $2.234 billion in cash and cash equivalents, with $19.831 billion of long-term debt compared with the respective figures of $311 million and $19.740 billion as of Sep 30, 2023.

Lumen currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Manhattan Associates MANH, Synopsys SNPS and Microsoft MSFT. While MANH and SNPS sport a Zacks Rank #1 each, MSFT carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MANH’s 2024 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 3.6% in the past 60 days to $3.76. Manhattan Associates’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 27.6%. Shares of MANH have surged 67.6% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SNPS’ fiscal 2024 EPS increased 0.3% in the past 60 days to $13.46. The long-term earnings growth rate is 17.5%. SNPS’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 4.1%. Shares of SNPS have soared 56.3% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Microsoft’s fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $11.63, indicating growth of 18.6% from the year-ago levels. MSFT’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 8.8%. The long-term earnings growth rate is 16.2%. Shares of MSFT have rallied 53% in the past year.

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Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Lumen Technologies, Inc. (LUMN) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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