Verizon Lower After Q1 Miss

Verizon Communications Inc. VZ shares are trading lower by $0.90 (1.4 percent) at $48.04 in Thursday's session. The catalyst for the decline is a Q1 EPS miss of a penny along with a $700 million miss for sales.

After a lower open, Verizon's stock continued in that direction until it found intraday support at $47.71 and is attempting to rebound. That low coincides with a series of lows in the upper $47.00 handle during the month of February.

Its initial bounce off the low took the issue to $48.20, which well shy of the lower-end of Wednesday's range, which is not until $48.89.

At this time, the stock is attempting to remain in the $48.00 handle and avoid its first close under $48.00 since November 17, when it ended that session at $47.84.