What happened
Satellite communications stock Globalstar (GSAT +3.30%) was up 39.1% at 1:30 p.m. EST on Friday after announcing a new collaboration with Nokia (NOK 0.95%).
Globalstar announced Thursday evening that Nokia has entered into an agreement with Tideworks Technology, which provides terminal operating systems, to deploy Globalstar's Band 53 spectrum at the Port of Seattle.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
This is the second collaboration between Globalstar and Nokia at a United States port, Globalstar said, noting that Nokia is part of a group of priority partners that it worked with to develop the Band 53 ecosystem. That would seem to give Nokia a vested interest in patronize Globalstar over other potential providers.
Now what
Whatever the reason, this latest agreement bodes well for continued deals with Nokia, the Finnish telecom giant -- and maybe even implies revenue growth for Globalstar in the future.
I'm still not optimistic at all about Globalstar's stock valuation: 66 times free cash flow seems a rather rich price to pay for a company that (before this announcement at least) has shown little ability to grow its revenue. Also, whatever the potential, Globalstar was thunderously silent about what the Nokia deal means for future revenue and profits. But today, that seems like the minority view.
