Global Crossing (NASDAQ:GLBC) has been through a lot in the last few years. The company went bankrupt after the Great Telecom Bust of 2000, only to emerge shortly afterwards with a nearly squeaky clean balance sheet. Investors, of course, lost their shirts, and couldn't be blamed for being a bit more gun-shy this time around. However, it is possible that finally an admittedly small ray of sunlight may be breaking over the telecom landscape for the first time in many moons.
The company released second-quarter earnings yesterday, and revenue grew sequentially from $456 million to $461 million, while cost of revenue dropped 2% over the same time frame and 8% year over year to $393 million. Adjusted EBITDA (a useful metric for this company, given all the moving parts) improved to a loss of $17 million, versus a $62 million loss in the prior quarter.
Similar to compatriot Level 3 (NASDAQ:LVLT), Global Crossing management remarked on the improving fortunes of the industry as the demand for Internet protocol (IP)-based solutions and bandwidth capacity is surging. The demand for traffic is being driven by VoIP, as well as more bandwidth-intensive apps like video (see YouTube, for example). This is in contrast to years of middling demand due to far too much capacity being available after the bubble.
IP traffic on the company's network was up 65% in 2005, faster than the overall market's 49%, and the fast growth has continued into this year. Global Crossing thusly is positioned to do well, being one of the very few end-to-end-pure IP networks in the world -- a substantial advantage over competitors' often patchwork networks.
Management expects positive cash flow (a real landmark after years of cash burn) in the second half of 2006. Given the company's enterprise value of about $940 million, the valuation looks worthy of further due diligence as management's laser focus on profits at the expense of unprofitable revenue growth seems to be paying off. Still, keep in mind the industry is still working off the massive over-investments from the early part of the decade, so there are certain to be a few more bumps along the way of this turnaround.
However, large carriers like Deutsche Telekom (NYSE:DT), telecom providers like Siemens (NYSE:SI), and router companies like Juniper (NASDAQ:JNPR) all stand to benefit in some fashion from the surge in traffic demand as well. With recent high-profile customers like News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWS) MySpace.com signing up (for a dedicated network for four of its North American facilities), perhaps Global Crossing can finally put its ugly past behind it.
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Fool contributor Stephen Ellis doesn't hold shares in any companies mentioned. You can see his holdings for yourself . The Motley Fool has a pure IP-only disclosure policy .
