BTIG Downgrades Time Warner Cable, Cites Falling Confidence In Comcast Deal

In a note to clients on Thursday, Richard Greenfield of BTIG downgraded shares of Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC) to Neutral from Buy, while no longer issuing a price target.

“One year ago, as speculation over Charter Communications' interest in Time Warner Cable grew, we wrote that Time Warner should not rush to sell,” Greenfield wrote. The analyst adds that the company's operational improvement should improve “notably” in 2014 and that Comcast Corporation could ultimately “one-up” Charter and seek an acquisition of Time Warner.

Greenfield adds that 10 months have since passed since Comcast announced its $160 per share offer to acquire Time Warner and a regulatory decision is still months away. The analyst notes that ultimately Comcast will acquire Time Warner, confidence in a deal closing is “falling at the same time that our concerns over the FCC reclassifying broadband are increasing.”