A Big Upgrade for Tellabs

Every day, the sun rises on Wall Street, and a plethora of professional analysts wake to issue new opinions on stocks. Here at the Fool, we use our "This Just In" column to examine some of these picks -- and the track records of the companies behind them -- so individuals can make better investing decisions.

In addition to following professional banks, anyone can use Motley Fool CAPS to monitor the collective opinions of more than 145,000 members, many of whom demonstrate better investing insight than published analysts do.

After spending the last several months at a middle-of-the-road three-star rank, enough top-performing CAPS members have turned bullish on Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB  ) recently to upgrade it to four stars. A total of 291 members have given their opinion on the telecom equipment provider, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.

Some companies are seeing signs of improved telecom spending and many investors see Tellabs well positioned to profit from a rebound. Like networking equipment makers Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN  ) and Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR  ) , Tellabs has seen signs of improvement as the company reported another quarter of sequential sales growth, with revenue in North America reaching its highest level in six quarters helped by an increase in growth products. Juniper has seen telecom providers like Verizon (NYSE: VZ  ) stepping up network equipment orders, and AT&T (NYSE: T  ) recently indicated it's experienced a big jump in mobile traffic -- a segment that's expected to see big growth in coming years.

Tellabs recently made a move to beef up its next-generation mobile Internet technology with its completed purchase of privately held WiChorus, which specializes in 3G and 4G infrastructure products. The purchase reflects other companies' moves to capitalize on the growing mobile infrastructure demand like Cisco Systems' (Nasdaq: CSCO  ) purchase of Starent Networks (Nasdaq: STAR  ) . Many CAPS members like the growth opportunities the acquisition provides to Tellabs' mobile backhaul business. Tellabs has also been deft at pulling in cash flow lately -- operating cash flow was more than twice its third-quarter net income of $29.3 million, providing it with nearly $1.5 billion in cash and short-term investments.

Do you think Tellabs deserves its raised status? Add your thoughts in the comments box below on this page, or head over to CAPS to rate the company and check out all the information and opinions the community offers, absolutely free.