UPDATE: Bank of America Reinstates Sprint Nextel at Underperform on Unsubstantiated Valuation

In a report published Monday, Bank of America analyst David W. Barden reinstated coverage on Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) with an Underperform rating and $5.00 price target.

In the report, Bank of America noted, “We rate Sprint Underperform based on our view that the company's valuation relative to our understanding of New Sprint's strategy is unsubstantiated. Just prior to the reports that Sprint was in talks with Softbank in September 2012, we rated Sprint Buy based on a 5.7x forward year valuation at the time. The current valuation of 7.7x 2014E EBITDA is a significant premium which was established by the back and forth bidding process between SoftBank and DISH to control Sprint. In our view, the fundamental underpinnings of Sprint have not changed materially enough, that we know of, to justify this public market re-rating.”

Sprint Nextel closed on Friday at $6.45.