Time Warner Cable near 52-week low on telecoms' resurgence

Sometimes growing cable numbers on a raw basis just aren't enough. That was the case over the punishment seen on Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) earnings. It wasn't the raw growth, and it wasn't really the earnings. It was the relative growth and the notion that CEO Brian Roberts specifically noted how new offerings were creating a challenging environment in Q4. If it is challenging then in one quarter, that won't be a one-quarter issue.

As a result, shares of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) are now both flirting with 52-week lows.

The main culprit for this "challenging environment" is the growing popularity and installs seen out of Verizon (NYSE: VZ)'s FiOS and AT&T (NYSE: T)'s uVerse digital television and home-fiber bundles. These were hard to believe in with much conviction about 12 to 24 months ago when you had gotten used to the lightning speeds of cable versus DSL.

But it turns out that in a slowing economy and with the opportunity to save cash, more customers are at least willing to entertain the notion of using the telecom again. Since AT&T and Verizon each also have stellar mobile phone coverage, and since people are actually starting to go without landline phones in the home, the telecoms might actually have a solid argument.