Hi all,
Just been doing a bit of research on Vodafone (£VOD) as the stock is at an all time low and the management has just cut dividends, which I believe in conjunction with the potential coming with 5G could prelude a time of siginifcant growth for the business and the share price.
What are peoples thoughts about Vodafone? Is it a steal at its current price, or a gamble?
Interested in the response to this, been looking into the 5g prospects.
I have been stocking up on my 5G stocks… I bought in with VOD… its a ‘cheap’ stock so I can always lower down basis points if needed… also they still have a good DIV.
I bought some shares. From a gamble perspective, it is a very nice buy from the all time low. From a business perspective, i think many will agree that introduction of 5g contracts will be a good driving force northwards for the share. Plus pending acquisition in Europe. I also look into companies which have superior economics working in their favor. I think Vodafone is one of those comps. I tend to ask myself whether the price you are paying for the stock matches the company’s intrinsic value…? Now, the price is way below Vodafone’s intrinsic value 
I think the market is ripe for disruption. How do Vodafone etc with their network of stores compete with the likes of VOXI? I reckon they’re Blockbuster and will be beaten by whoever is the Netflix. Appreciate that this is only part of what they do but margins in outsourcing etc are at an all time low.
Edit: I know nothing, pointed out further on that Vodafone own VOXI.
I would also look at devices with 5G support, cities where 5G will be available, and indication on pricing. Speed wise it’s a massive improvement but how much extra will people pay for that speed, if their current 4G serves their usage well.
I believe Vodafone invented VOXI
They described it as their Youth Network
I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts around 5G. BBC Tech Tent has some great insight.
It looks like Huawei are leading the UK infrastructure roll-out for 5G as they’re the cheapest vendor, even after the whole USA ban on Huawei, the UK government still trust them.
5G as a technology is no doubt going to revoloutinse cities, the latency speeds are going to be insane as well as the download speeds. This will enable insanely fast communication between smart devices such as autonomous vehicles communicating with each over. Also, I see the use of fiber broadband going down in cities, as the download speeds will be faster and more reliable with 5G. But this is all quite far away, there’s not many 5G smartphones available to buy.
VOXI is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) powered and run by Vodafone. There’s a whole heap of MVNO’s out there right now.
I think you still need show and tell kind of think for Vodafone’s diverse clients. For time being having stores is maybe fine. How one can predict when is the time for the Netflix, if no one can, I guess Vodafone can be the Netflix in itself…
I agree with this. The most ‘disruptive’ network that springs to mind for me is GiffGaff which is hardly disruptive at all, just attractive sim only monthly plans.
I just ran £VOD through Ben Graham’s Deep Value Checklist: Vodafone passes four of them:
3 . Dividend yield of at least 2/3 the AAA bond yield
4 . Stock price below 2/3 of tangible book value per share
6 . Total debt less than book value
8 . Total debt less than 2 times Net Current Asset Value (only just passes this).
Disclaimer: I am pretty new to stock analysis so may well have caluclated these all wrong 
When a company cuts its dividend it’s a big no no for me.
May mean they are focusing on investing in new tech though - which it appears vodafone is
Interested as to why you think this - I see cutting the dividend as a move towards growth and new investment.
5G still a way off yet. The next iPhone won’t even be 5G compatible is rumours are true, the first iPhone with 5G will be September 2020.
True, but I wouldn’t be buying £VOD with a view to selling for at least five years.
I think anyone buying into Voda should be prepared to hold shares for a long time. No-one is going to make a quick buck off this, I don’t think the share price will rise drastically either.
What is your logic behind the conclusions?
Well, devices are so powerful now-a-days people aren’t too fussed about upgrading.
Sure, there will always be a small group who always want the latest device but that’s a small group.
The money will be in data, but as new rules come in around people who are out of contract (meaning people will pay less per month) and the fact that Wi-fi is available everywhere now, I think data will become less profitable but will be mobile firms most profitable side of the business and this, may be a problem.
I agree that this is a long hold.
Good article on why 5G is a little different to say 3G to 4G