Lumen: Climbing Out Of The 'Junk Yard,' A Fair Value Upgrade

  • Asset Sale & Strategic Shift: Lumen Technologies, Inc. is selling its Mass Markets fiber-to-home business to AT&T for $5.75B, pivoting fully toward enterprise and data center connectivity. Improved Balance Sheet: Sale proceeds will reduce $4.8B in high-interest debt, lowering annual interest expense by ~$300M and cutting net debt-to-EBITDA from 4.9x to 3.9x—paving the way toward investment-grade ratings. Revised Valuation Method: With improved financial stability, the analyst now values LUMN stock at $9.76/share, based on gross PP&E minus liabilities, up from a previous fire-sale valuation of $5/share.