Fallout from the Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. merger continued Wednesday as separate developments sent tumbling shares of one mobile content provider and another e-commerce company.
Shares of InfoSpace Inc., which recently reported record third-quarter revenues, fell 8 percent after the content provider was downgraded by Raymond James analyst Mike Latimore from “strong buy” to “outperform.” Latimore also reduced the target price from $63 to $61.
In a research note, the analyst said the downgrade was due to uncertainty regarding Cingular’s long-term strategy for wireless data.
Similar rationale was behind the decision by Lightbridge Inc. to lower its fourth-quarter forecast. Citing a loss of revenue from AWS, the transaction processing company said it now expects to post a loss per share of 2 cents to 8 cents during the quarter on revenues of $30 million to $32 million.
Lightbridge shares fell more than 10 percent on the news.
“We have been notified to expect a significant slowdown in business from AT&T Wireless, as a result of their recent merger with Cingular Wireless,” said Tim O’Brien, Lightbridge’s chief executive officer. “We are monitoring this closely and are working diligently to minimize the impact on our business.”<
