Verizon shares fall the most in a month on Tuesday on larger-than-expected subscriber loss, first-quarter profit tops estimates

Verizon Communications Incs first-quarter profit, reported on Tuesday, exceeded market expectations, while full-year 2019 earnings forecast was revised up. However, the company reported a more considerable loss of phone subscribers during the quarter than anticipated, which sent its shares down by over 2% yesterday.

Verizon shares closed lower for the fifth time in the past fourteen trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since March 28th. The stock went down 2.09% ($1.22) to $57.15, after touching an intraday low at $56.29, or a price level not seen since March 8th ($56.00).

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc have risen 1.65% so far in 2019 compared with a 17.03% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Verizon’s stock went up 6.22%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Total revenue grew 1% year-on-year to $32.13 billion during the first quarter. In comparison, analysts on average had expected revenue of $32.16 billion.

A net 44 000 phone subscribers, who pay a monthly bill, were lost during the past quarter, which Verizon attributed to few big price-cut promotions. The figure compares with a net loss of 25 000 subscribers, expected by analysts on average.

Meanwhile, net income attributable to shareholders went up to $5.03 billion ($1.22 per share) during the quarter ended on March 31st from $4.55 billion ($1.11 per share) in the year-ago period.

Verizons earnings per share, which exclude special items, were reported at $1.20 during the first quarter, which exceeded a consensus of estimates pointing to earnings of $1.17 per share.

The wireless carrier also said that full-year adjusted earnings were now expected to increase at a low single-digit percentage rate. Verizon had previously forecast a similar full-year 2019 profit to the result it reported for the preceding year.

According to CNN Money, the 23 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Verizon Communications Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $61.00, with a high estimate of $65.00 and a low estimate of $50.00. The median estimate represents a 6.74% upside compared to the closing price of $57.15 on April 23rd.

The same media also reported that 17 out of 30 surveyed investment analysts had rated Verizon Communications Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 12 – as “Buy”.

Weekly Pivot Levels

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

Central Pivot Point – $58.10
R1 – $58.92
R2 – $59.80
R3 – $60.62
R4 – $61.44

S1 – $57.22
S2 – $56.40
S3 – $55.52
S4 – $54.64