Telecom service bundler Talk America (Nasdaq: TALK) holds the unique honor of being both the first Motley Fool Hidden Gems buy recommendation... and the first Hidden Gems sell recommendation as well.
The buy argument was, and still is, easy to explain: You don't find many companies in today's market selling for Talk America's enterprise value-to-free cash flow ratio of under 4. The company is cheap, cheap, cheap.
The sell argument is a little trickier. Talk America's business model is under attack by the Baby Bells, such as Verizon (NYSE: VZ), SBC (NYSE: SBC), Qwest (NYSE: Q), and BellSouth (NYSE: BLS). (SBC is, coincidentally, one of David Gardner's Motley Fool Stock Advisor selections.)
In March, the Baby Bells won a legal victory over Talk America and the other non-Bells when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down a Federal Communications Commission ruling (known as UNE-P) that had required the Baby Bells to rent access to outsiders at cost.
Ever since that ruling, the non-Bells have been negotiating for access to the Baby Bells' networks at affordable, but non-government-mandated, rates. In late April, AT&T (NYSE: T) announced a comprehensive "peace offering", endorsed by Talk America, that would raise prices for telecoms continuing to lease access via UNE-P. In exchange, the Baby Bells were asked to set reasonable rates for access to the "last mile" portions of their networks -- the wires that actually connect to customers' homes and offices.
An amicable settlement would be good news for Talk America shareholders. Any reduction in uncertainty over the business model's viability should result in a stronger share price. However, to date, the Baby Bells seem inclined to play hardball. Talk America was stunned when its negotiations with SBC resulted in a demand that Talk America abandon use of its own network and use only SBC's facilities for at least 90% of its business. And AT&T is now so upset that it wants to cut off negotiations and submit the whole issue to binding arbitration.
Rather than simply hanging up, however, Talk America called in a ringer. It released a copy of SBC's demands to the FCC (at the FCC's request), embarrassing SBC in front of its primary regulator.
Although SBC initially objected that the FCC had no right to see its proposals to Talk America because they were "confidential," it has since abandoned this position and agreed to open negotiations with no confidentiality provisions. That's good news for Talk America, and good news for investors who wish the Baby Bells would finally learn how to play well with others.
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Fool contributor
Rich Smith
owns shares in SBC, but not in any of the other companies mentioned in this article.
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