EchoStar Communications [Nasdaq: DISH] first quarter subscriber levels impressed analysts on Wall Street. The company’s strong subscriber growth momentum versus cable and rival DirecTV earned a positive review from Karim Zia, a satellite and cable analyst with Deutsche Banc. He pointed to the company’s improving profitability characteristics as another encouraging sign.

EchoStar added 350,000 net new subscribers, beating Zia’s estimate of 285,000 and consensus analyst projections of 250,000, he noted.