What's Going On With Verizon Stock?

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ shares are trading lower by 2.66% to $41.72 during Thursday’s session and are lower by 4.5% this week. The stock is trading lower this week after the company reported mixed third-quarter results.

What Happened: While Verizon delivered mixed results, it showcased resilience in key business areas despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.

Verizon reported flat year-over-year revenue of $33.33 billion, falling slightly short of Wall Street expectations of $33.43 billion. This stagnation in sales growth was largely due to a drop in wireless equipment revenue, which offset growth in other areas such as service and fixed wireless connections.

The company posted an adjusted EPS of $1.19, marginally exceeding analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.18. Notably, Verizon’s total wireless service revenue climbed by 2.7% year-over-year to $19.8 billion, driven by pricing adjustments and increased adoption of its fixed wireless services.

The company added 239,000 postpaid phone subscribers, while total retail postpaid net additions stood at 349,000.

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Verizon’s broadband business also showed strong momentum, with 389,000 total broadband net additions for the quarter. The company now has 11.9 million broadband subscribers, reflecting a 16% increase from the prior year. Its fixed wireless service, a key growth driver, saw 363,000 net additions.

What Else: On the cost front, Verizon’s net income dropped to $3.4 billion from $4.9 billion a year ago, largely due to a $1.7 billion charge tied to severance payments from its voluntary separation program and other headcount reduction measures.

However, the company's consumer segment showed improved profitability, with the EBITDA margin rising by 60 basis points to 43.4%, thanks to higher service revenue and fewer upgrades. The Business segment's EBITDA margin, however, contracted by 30 basis points to 21.8%, pressured by declining wireline revenues.

Verizon's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter reached $12.5 billion, an increase from $12.2 billion in the same period last year. However, its year-to-date free cash flow declined slightly to $14.5 billion from $14.6 billion a year earlier.

Looking ahead, Verizon reiterated its full-year guidance, forecasting wireless service revenue growth in the range of 2.0% to 3.5%. The company also reaffirmed its adjusted EPS target of $4.50 to $4.70, aligning with the market consensus of $4.57.

Following the earnings report, several analysts made adjustments to their price targets.

Read Also: These Analysts Revise Their Forecasts On Verizon After Q3 Results

How To Buy VZ Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Verizon Communications’ case, it is in the Communication Services sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, VZ has a 52-week high of $45.36 and a 52-week low of $33.34.