PA & NSE

Panamsat had a big week as it added capacity to its fleet through the purchase of the Europe*Star-1 satellite, as well as two orbital slots. Reaction from industry observers was generally positive, but investors did not seem to be fazed by the transaction, as Panamsat’s stock jumped only 9 cents to close at $20.33 per share July 19, the day the deal was announced. But even that modest gain was lost, as the stock closed the four-day period leading up to our publication deadline right where it started — $20.24, keeping the trend of a relatively level trading in recent weeks.

New Skies Satellites lost a little ground after hitting a historic closing high of $21.02 on July 14. In the days that followed, the stock bottomed out at $20.80 July 18, then moved up slightly to $20.94 July 20 before finally settling at $20.85. Like Panamsat, the stock has more or less leveled off as no significant news has come from the New Skies camp since the IPO earlier this year.

GRMN

Garmin Ltd., a manufacturer of GPS receivers received a small boost this week, with its stock rising July 20, the same day a research report from Morgan Stanley offered some favorable expectations for the company’s second half 2005 financial performance.

Analyst Benjamin Swinbourne said he expected “strong” revenues in the in the second half driven by new automotive products, which will help drive aftermarket GPS sales. Swinbourne did express some caution, noting that Garmin “will see margin pressure of the long term as it continues to evolve into higher growth and more competitive market segments…While technology, innovation, brand and distribution are all staples of the Garmin business model, we do not see these core competencies mitigating the long-term risk of new entrants on the hardware side of the GPS story.”

Garmin’s stock jumped $2 July 20 closing at $52.54. The stock lost a little of that gain, falling to $52.04 on July 21. It should be noted that the July 21 closing price was the highest closing price since Feb. 2, when Garmin peaked for the past 52-week period with a price of $57.77.

DISH

The stock of Echostar Communications Corp., operator of the Dish Network direct-to-home satellite television service, dipped below recent trading levels, presumably on news that subscriber additions generated from its partnership with telecom services provider SBC were “disappointing,” according to a July 21 equity research report by Banc of America Securities analyst Douglas Shapiro.

SBC reported Dish additions of “only 10,000, compared to our estimate of [between] 75,000 and 101,000” in the second quarter of 2004. “Although SBC indicated last quarter that it would start to ‘selectively market’ the product, a de-emphasis from its prior push, the extent of the slowdown is a bit surprising,” Shapiro said. However, “If SBC has been largely cannibalizing Echostar’s own acquisition efforts, the slowdown from SBC may not impact Echostar as badly as some might exptect”

Echostar, prior to the news of limited subscriber additions from SBC, had been hovering around the $30 mark for the past month, but closed at $28.95 July 21, suggesting investors shared in the disappointment.