What happened
Another day, another 10%-plus move for Intelsat (INTE.Q) stock.
It's Thursday, and Intelsat is moving steadily higher in afternoon trading, tipping the scales up 16.1% as of 12:12 p.m. EDT. The question is "why?"
"Hey, Houston! What's up with Intelsat's stock price today? I can't see a good reason for it, even from orbit." Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Intelsat, it seems, is the stock that can do no wrong -- even when it doesn't do much of anything at all. Intelsat entered the month of May with a big 33% move higher after reporting earnings on May 1 -- actually a "loss" for the fiscal first quarter, but one apparently salvaged by a revenue "beat." Since then, the stock hasn't looked back, tacking on an additional 44% worth of gains on top of its May 1 share price -- despite the company having very little new to report to explain the momentum.
As for today's move, there's just one news item on the wires, a notice that Intelsat has hired Juan Pablo Cofino away from ATN International to become its new regional vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, I've no reason to believe Mr. Cofino is anything other than a very capable executive -- but is he such a great catch as to justify adding $323 million to Intelsat's market cap in a single day of trading?
Now what
I rather doubt it. And that's why -- much as I hate to break the news -- there's nothing substantial behind today's rise in Intelsat's stock price. Don't be surprised if much of it goes away tomorrow, just as easily as it came today.
