#debt

Even with stock buy backs!

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4831605-altice-usa-debt-challenges-will-be-difficult-to-solve

underperformed the S&P 500 since my previous Sell rating was published.

ATUS continues to lose broadband customers and is expected to see revenue declines in the coming years, despite aggressive network investments.

The company's leverage ratio and weighted average cost of debt have increased, making meaningful debt reduction or a non-dilutive restructuring very challenging.

The stock buyback plan seems to be working in reverse. Instead of creating shareholder value or paying down debt, billions have been poured into buybacks with nothing to show for it. The stock is sliding, the debt remains sky-high, and the company continues to cut jobs and force 5-day RTO as if that’s the solution.

It’s the same story we’ve seen time and again — billions wasted on DirecTV, Time Warner, Mexico, and now buybacks that do the exact opposite of what they were supposed to. Employees are the ones who pay the price while leadership keeps pretending this is all part of a “long-term strategy.”

How many more bad bets do we have to live through before someone is held accountable?

Share price continues to decline after earnings and sales misses. Fiber deployment might be necessary for survival but its not a growth strategy. Fiber is mostly business related - with the economy slowing expect less growth or decline in fiber related revenues. Mobility sales might be a bit better with consumer segment holding up better.

There is no growth driver other than HC reduction in the near term so expect no significant increase in share price even after this sell off. The 16% share price decline since 9-15, which accounts for about four years of dividends, will not be reversed in the near future which is reflected in analyst downgrades. Given the very large decline in share prie prior to the earnings annoucement it is likely the word got out to selected individuals inside and outside the company. The share buyback program has also been a bust having little impact on the share price decline.

What does the future hold? - flat revenues, flat earnings per share, no recovery in share price, no increase in the dividend, a very slow reduction in long term debt (maybe), and a significant reduction in HC.

To be sure AT&T is a slow growth dividend stock that because of technology needs fewer employees over time but just think how much better it would be without $200 billion in long term debt, more spectrum, and better outside management. When Stephenson became CEO the share price was $39.47. When he left it was under $30. Now its under $25. Unfortunately, there is no hope of a change in top management and the BOD. No hope.

The hole gets deeper.

U.S. economic-financial system -

Debt bubbles (ultimately) lead to crashes (especially in the stock market).

It has been proven time-and-time again in U.S. history.

All of these are at (record) levels.

List of (current) U.S. debt bubbles -

U.S. National debt - $37.8 Trillion, and (rising) exponentially per usdebtclock (add another $3.74 Trillion (minimum) from the Trump Tax bill). Financed by outside Investors (a record).

U.S. mortgage debt - $12.94 Trillion, and (rising) as of 2025 2nd quarter (a record).

U.S. credit card debt - $1.21 Trillion, and (rising) as of 2025 2nd quarter (a record).

U.S. automotive debt - $1.66 Trillion, and (rising) as of 2025 3rd quarter (a record).

U.S. student loan debt - $1.81 Trillion, and (rising) as of 2025 2nd quarter (a record).

There is also (record) debt ($1.06 Trillion, August 2025 per FINRA) in the stock market by Investors financing purchases.

These are the facts.

The geniuses leading us led to this:

Auditing firm BDO USA has conducted layoffs and suspended non essential travel to cut costs while managing a $1.3 billion ESOP related loan from Apollo Global Management.

Bloomberg reporting cited by Yahoo Finance says the roughly 9 percent interest debt, reduced by 100 basis points after a June 30 refinancing, is pressuring multiple departments including tax, audit, and advisory. BDO declined comment on client matters.

The firm also faces scrutiny from a proposed ESOP class action alleging workers overpaid to join the plan, and reputational fallout from First Brands Group’s bankruptcy after BDO provided a clean audit opinion.

Despite headwinds, a source said the firm remains financially stable and continues to optimize operations. BDO reported $2.89 billion in revenue for the year ended December 31 and in September announced plans to hire more than 1,300 people from HORNE.

BDO USA - Chicago IL

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bdo-usa-lays-off-employees-100153492.html

With everything that is happening and on the horizon everyone should get out before it’s too late. Gainwell has some serious trouble coming up. Massive debt coming due that they don’t have the funds to pay, looming whistleblower activity, and their lack of ability to manage their finances. They are in serious trouble. Staying employed there is a sure recipe to be out on the street with no job.

Past time to walk away.

Miran - New Fed Trump (Lackey) -

The Democrats should (not) budge, no matter what; leave the U.S. government shut down (Independent here).

The Trump Tax bill should (not) have been passed, which increased the (current, and rising) $37.8 Trillion U.S. National debt by another $3.74 Trillion over a 10-year period.

While taking away Medicare-Medicaid benefits from those that (actually) need them, and providing $600.0 Billion in tax breaks over a 10-year period to the wealthy.

Trump is having to replace the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) chief (again).

They have background issues, and are not going to be confirmed.

FYI - Interest on the U.S. National debt (paid by the U.S. taxpayers) has now surpassed $1.05 Trillion per year (this is the Interest earned by investors financing the U.S. National debt - U.S. and foreign investors like Japan, and China; via long-term 20-30 year U.S. Treasury bonds) per usdebtclock.

No surprise here.

Sadly, Occidental Petroleum's EBIT actually dropped 8.8% in the last year. If earnings continue on that decline then managing that debt will be difficult like delivering hot soup on a unicycle …
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/think-occidental-petroleum-nyse-oxy-120019506.html

I found out last week that the leasing contracts have all been sold off to various companies around the world. Europe was recently sold in the last months and North America was sold a while ago to a company called Peak. All the employees are gone from that group and Xerox doesn't have any equity anymore. We don't own anything anymore, we don't pay our bills even close to on time, if even at all (from what I have heard) and the employees are all disgruntled. On top of all of that, this company has a ton of C level execs for some reason and more high end managers than people that actually do work.
Great job Steve B! What leadership he's displayed running this company into the ground. Thank God the debt machine of Lexmark is here to save us! LOL I so look forward to Kim Kleps BS emails and the fireside chats of nonsense. Steve B getting an award weeks ago is the cherry on top of this sh*tpile.

So after everything settles from this Oxychem sale and the debt reduction is the company better off then if they never would have purchased APC?

I know someone out there will be able to answer this. If we get rid of OxyChem and use the proceeds to pay down debt how does that affect the stock price and market cap. Right now our market cap is appx 44 billion. If we are losing such a large asset does that affect our actual overall worth? I know if the cost per share goes down the market cap does as well, but since we sold such a large asset would it not bring our true value down. Add in the debt and we should have an enterprise value of around 60 billion after debt is paid down.

There, I said it. I’m 55, still in debt, with a family and aging parents. We should all be able to live decent lives, yet we’re under constant pressure just to cover basic survival. And it can all be gone in a second. After nearly 30 years of hard work, I thought I’d have some peace of mind and something to show for it. But nope.

If AT&T had:
Skipped DirecTV & Time Warner
Kept debt $250 B today
→ Same dividend dollars, but 2× per-share payout and higher equity value
This is the opportunity cost of “empire building.”

The acquisitions didn’t create incremental distributable cash; they masked stagnation until the balance sheet cracked.

"Outstanding long-term debt in the amount of $35.4 million matures in November 2025."

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/2024-12-GSAFAC-0000353687

See details:
https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/25/oracle_18_billion_debt/

More than 70% of the Sycamore deal is financed through debt, meaning that the private equity firm doesn’t have “much skin in the game,” according to Parr. The risks of bankruptcy are especially troubling, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. In the first quarter of this year alone, 70% of large U.S. corporate bankruptcies involved private equity-owned companies, despite private equity making up only 6.5% of the economy.

Im tired of wasting so much time, money, and energy driving into the office for no benefit. It's such a struggle to find parking and then a desk, let alone nearby your team. And then its a noisy, chaotic environment thats difficult to focus in, but told this is somehow a more productive environment when it just isn't. This clearly isnt about collaboration or productivity or there would be better implementation and feedback routes. The current RTO model is implemented so poorly its doomed to fail, yet employees are paying for bad leadership. I'm tired of adding an extra work day to my week in commuting, only to make it harder to do my real job. RTO is a bubble waiting to burst and I wish it would happen soon so we can figure out a better way forward

Reshuffling the deck 😆

Verizon just hiked its dividend again — 69 cents a share. On paper, that looks like strength. Shareholders get a little more cash, and the company gets to brag about “rewarding investors.”

But let’s be real. This isn’t strength. It’s a cover-up.

Verizon is carrying one of the biggest debt loads in corporate America. Billions locked into spectrum, billions owed in interest, billions still needed just to keep the network running. Growth? Flat. Competition? Relentless.

So why raise the dividend? Simple: it’s cheaper to keep investors quiet with cash than to deal with the bigger problem.

That’s not strategy. That’s theater. It’s a short-term distraction dressed up as long-term confidence. Debt doesn’t disappear because you slap a bigger payout on top. Real innovation doesn’t come from squeezing another cent into dividends.

This move doesn’t scream strength. It whispers fear. Fear that if the checks ever stop, the whole illusion collapses.

Dividends don’t hide debt — they just rent time.

Not everyone is excited about the deal. The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, which bills itself as a watchdog organization rooting out the impacts of private investment, said in March it was “very wary” of the deal, noting several of Sycamore’s portfolio companies have filed for bankruptcy.

The watchdog group further noted that Sycamore appears to be paying for the acquisition mostly using debt, which could leave Walgreens financially vulnerable down the line.

Kodak Dumps Pension Plan to Pay Off Massive $500 Million Debt.
https://tonernews.com/forums/topic/kodak-dumps-pension-plan-to-pay-off-500-million-massive-debt/

Here is a simplification for those who may be reading this and are not familiar with how some of these deals work.

TLDR, investors/company’s don’t give a sh-t about you. They only care about one thing. Money.

Someone essentially takes out a loan to buy a company, once they own the company. The person has a lower interest rate. Than the company, because they use the credit rating of the company to determine the interest that they put on the loan that they used to buy the company for themselves. Which gets put on the company’s balance sheet as a loan that the owe the person. Who not only makes a profit off of the interest they charged the company after the loan is payed off. Plus they own the company.

While all of this is happening they essentially strip it for parts (selling off anything that is profitable), cut as much costs as possible to maximize short/medium term profits. Slowly at first. Then faster and faster. Then after they shoved down as much money as they possibly could in their pants they then let the company go bankrupt to the creditors. Which by then is is usually the people who bought the company.

They then use the bankruptcy process to pay as much as the original loan back as they can. With as many fees and surcharges as possible.

When they liquidate this is the normal order that the company owes the money to get paid. (Different in certain states) It goes from

secured creditor (anything backed by assets)

Administrative costs ( the lawyers and all the costs from managing the company in bankruptcy this is a gold mine for them you will also see corporate, spend absurd, money on stupid sh-t that only makes their finances worse which is good because a lot of them at this point are secured creditors)

Priority Unsecured creditors. (supposed to be the workers you get around this though and kick the can to step 4. )

General unsecured creditors Everyone else (even you the worker) except the what is in step 5.

The stock holders aka the retail investors and the money they force you to invest in them through your retirement plan, because all the Whales are gone 99.9% of the time.

So when a company liquidates you could easily lose the wages you have already worked that have not been payed out and you are almost guaranteed to make penny’s on the dollar of what they owe you from your stock, this is very dependable on the debt burdens the company has).