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Viasat (VSAT) Selects Intelisys as Master Agent Partner

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Viasat Inc. (VSAT - Free Report) recently entered into a partnership with Intelisys, a major technology services distributor, wherein the latter will serve as Viasat’s Master Agent partner. Per the collaboration, Intelisys will offer Viasat's business internet services to business customers. This, in turn, will expand Viasat’s presence in the business and enterprise channel.

The agreement will allow Intelisys to sell Viasat high-speed satellite internet services to enterprise and business customers across the United States. This will enable Intelisys to fill the broadband coverage gap across the country and meet customer requirements for reliable and high-speed broadband communications services. Also, the offering of Viasat satellite internet service will provide Intelisys business customers access to a strong secondary connection for business continuity as well as SD-WAN implementations.

Earlier, Viasat had announced that the first ViaSat-3 payload module structure has been set at its Tempe, AZ facility. As a matter of fact, the company will begin testing and payload integration activities for the first ViaSat-3 class satellite, which will likely start supplying more accessible and affordable broadband services across the Americas from 2020. Notably, the ViaSat-3 payload module structure has been constructed by The Boeing Company (BA - Free Report) .

Existing Business Scenario

Although Viasat’s R&D activities bode well for the long term, these weigh on the net income in the near future. Also, the company anticipates incurring huge rise in R&D activities related to the launch of ViaSat-3 satellites that can materially impact its margins and bottom line, going forward.

In the past three months, Viasat has underperformed the industry, recording a gain of 0.2% compared with 13.5% growth for the latter.

Viasat operates in a highly dynamic and competitive market, which includes stalwarts from varied industries. Hence, to combat such competitive pressure, the company has to continuously customize its network offering per needs, enhance the cost-effectiveness of its products and services, and boost the satellite data networks. This apart, although the company’s acquisition strategy has significant long-term impact, it has led to integration risks in the near term. Failure to successfully integrate the newly acquired companies into its own business model might hurt the company’s financials.

Moreover, Viasat depends on U.S. government contracts for a major part of its revenues. In the future, any additional federal budgetary pressures may lead to in deeper-than-expected cuts in defense spending, which may significantly impact its business prospects. Furthermore, a shift in the government’s foreign policy may result in the termination of some major international contracts.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Viasat currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A couple of better-ranked stocks from the same space are Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. and Clearfield, Inc. (CLFD - Free Report) . While Ubiquiti sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Clearfield carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ubiquiti Networks surpassed estimates thrice in the trailing four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 8.96%.

Clearfield surpassed estimates in each of the preceding four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 52.78%.

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