Verizon shares touch a one-year high on Tuesday as fourth-quarter revenue, subscriber growth exceed market expectations

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) touched highs unseen in a year during the trading session in New York yesterday after its fourth-quarter revenue and phone subscriber growth outstripped market expectations.

Verizon shares closed lower for the fourth time in the past seven trading sessions on Tuesday. The stock went down 0.43% ($0.23) to $53.23, after touching an intraday high at $54.48, or a price level not seen since January 5th 2017 ($54.83).

In the week ended on January 21st the shares of the communication service provider added 0.10% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the first gain out of four weeks. Yet, it has been the smallest weekly increase in more than 1 year.

The stock has pared its advance to 0.57% so far during the current month, following a 4.01% surge in December. The latter has been a second consecutive month of gains.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed company dipped 0.84% following a 15.49% surge in 2016.

Verizons total revenue increased to $34.0 billion during the fourth quarter ended on December 31st from $32.34 billion during the same period a year ago. In comparison, analysts on average had expected $33.26 billion in revenue.

Phone subscribers paying a monthly bill on a net basis were reported to have increased by 431 000 during the latest quarter. That number surpassed what Wells Fargo analysts had projected earlier – 320 000 new subscribers.

Meanwhile, net income attributable to shareholders rose to $18.7 billion ($4.56 per share) during the quarter ended on December 31st from $4.5 billion ($1.10 per share) in the year-ago quarter.

Verizons earnings per share, excluding the tax cut impact and other special items, were reported at $0.86 during the fourth quarter. In comparison, the median analyst forecast had pointed to adjusted earnings per share of $0.88.

The company said that its operating cash flow would increase by $3.5 billion to $4 billion during the current year as a result of the recently-passed reform of the US tax system.

Verizon now projects its full-year 2018 revenue to increase at a low single-digit rate, while its service revenue growth to become positive by the end of this year or in the beginning of 2019.

The company also projects its adjusted earnings per share, which exclude the tax reform impact as well as a newly-adopted accounting standard, to increase at a low single-digit rate.

According to CNN Money, the 22 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Verizon Communications Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $52.00, with a high estimate of $61.00 and a low estimate of $45.00. The median estimate is a 2.31% decrease compared to the closing price of $53.23 on January 23rd.

The same media also reported that 23 out of 29 surveyed investment analysts had rated Verizon Communications Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 6 – as “Buy”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Verizon stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $53.38
R2 – $53.53
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $53.69
R4 (Long Breakout) – $54.14
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $54.68
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $54.90

S1 – $53.08
S2 – $52.93
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $52.77
S4 (Short Breakout) – $52.32
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $51.78
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $51.56

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $52.12
R1 – $53.09
R2 – $54.26
R3 – $55.23
R4 – $56.19

S1 – $50.95
S2 – $49.98
S3 – $48.81
S4 – $47.63