Verizon (NYSE:VZ) announced mixed results for Q4 2011 Wednesday, as a record quarterly growth in revenues was offset by high subsidies for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones and several one-time expense items. The largest U.S. wireless carrier said that its Q4 revenues grew 7.7% over the same period last year, the most in over a decade of operations, on the back of strong smartphone sales as well as gains in postpaid and FiOS subscriptions. However, the company ended the quarter with a $212 million loss, down from a $4.6B profit returned in the period last year as it had to incur a $5.6 billion pre-tax pension charge, in addition to losses from the snowstorm that hit the north-east in October.
Articles for Verizon
Verizon Readies for Data Boom, Big Investments Will Pay Off
Graph ItNEW!Friday, January 27th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ): Why You Should Own It
Graph ItNEW!Friday, January 27th, 2012 by Trefis Team
This article was published by Robert Rubin at The Researcher
Let’s move past the impressive dividend of $2.00/share, yielding 5.35%, for a minute. In an income starved market, one could make the case that owning VZ common just for the dividend alone is very compelling, as there is no reason to believe the dividend is in jeopardy, and VZ could be held as an income-producing, bond surrogate (as the business is quasi-utility in nature and quite stable). However, I own VZ for reasons other than the dividend, as I can see upside to the stock of over 20% from the current $37.35/share, making an investment at this point even more compelling.
Verizon Q4 Preview: Juicy Data Revenues in Focus
Graph ItNEW!Thursday, January 19th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is expected to announce its FY 2011 Q4 earnings on January 24, and we will be keenly watching its smartphone sales as competitor AT&T has announced that it is expecting record smartphone sales for this quarter. Better-than-expected smartphone sales will increase its data revenues for the quarter and subsequent ones. Also of special interest will be the uptake in subscriber numbers as Verizon continues to expand its LTE 4G network development, challenging AT&T (NYSE:T) and Sprint (NYSE:S) in the wireless market. Further, we will be expecting updates on Verizon’s ambitious plans of entering the online streaming business this year.
Our $43.50 price estimate for Verizon stock is about 12% higher than the market price.
Smartphone Boom Means Data Will Get More Expensive as SMS Use Declines
Graph ItNEW!Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 by Trefis Team
SMS texting rates have started declining in several countries and may soon impact wireless carriers in the U.S., notes Tero Kuittinen, a senior analyst for MGI Research. ((More Signs of Steep Text Message Erosion, Forbes, December 29th, 2011)) Advanced SMS markets such as Finland, Netherlands, Philippines and Hong Kong, where text messaging first took off in the 90s, are among the first to see a steep erosion in SMS usage rates. Since the U.S. saw a boom in text-messaging a couple of years after these markets, Kuittinen expects the SMS usage decline to impact Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) in 2012 and 2013. If he is right, data plans could get costlier sooner than anticipated.
The decline in SMS usage can be attributed to the growing use of smartphones that has caused customers to migrate from traditional modes of communication such as text-messaging or SMS to the more convenient and new age messaging services of social media (Facebook & Twitter), email and other IP-based messaging systems. These services use 3G/4G data connection available on the phones instead of the carriers’ native SMS networks.
Verizon’s Expected Margin Dip in Q4 Well Worth it on Record iPhone Sales
Graph ItNEW!Monday, January 9th, 2012 by Trefis Team
Verizon (NYSE:VZ) more than doubled its iPhone sales in Q4 2011, selling over 4.2 million iPhones compared to 2 million that it sold previous quarter, the company’s CFO Fran Shammo said at Citigroup conference held last Wednesday, January 4. The iPhone arrived on Verizon’s CDMA network in February 2011, breaking AT&T’s (NYSE:T) exclusive near 4-year hold. Eight months later, the iPhone landed on Sprint’s (NYSE:S) network as well with the iPhone 4S, which has sold exceedingly well setting a record of 4 million units sales in the first three days post launch.
The strong iPhone 4S sales is attributable to huge pent-up demand from the last quarter as customers postponed their iPhone purchase in anticipation of a newer and better model this quarter. Canaccord Genuity reported last month that the 4S continued to be the best-selling smartphone across all carriers selling the phone for the second month running. While the iPhone will bring more postpaid customers to Verizon, which will reduce the churn and increase ARPU levels over the long term, the company will also have to take a near-term hit on margins. Read More »
Weekly Telecom Notes: Verizon, AT&T & China Telecom
Graph ItNEW!Friday, January 6th, 2012 by Trefis Team
The past week saw Verizon (NYSE:VZ) reaffirm expectations by announcing a record number of iPhone sales in Q4 2011 at a Citigroup conference held Wednesday. AT&T (NYSE:T) added 11 more markets to its rapidly increasing LTE coverage and Sprint (NYSE:S) revealed the first markets where it will roll out its LTE network in coming months. Further, China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) made clear its ambitions of expanding its operations in Europe with the sale of wireless services as a MVNO in France and Germany after launching it initially in U.K.
Weekly Telecom Notes: Verizon and AT&T
Graph ItNEW!Monday, January 2nd, 2012 by Trefis Team
The past week saw a series of outages and management missteps threaten to tarnish what was otherwise a good year for Verizon (NYSE:VZ). But the company moved quickly to rectify their mistakes before the year ended to start the new year 2012 on a fresh note. Meanwhile, with AT&T’s (NYSE:T) bid for a T-Mobile merger dead, the second largest wireless carrier in the U.S. may now look to make some low-key acquisitions to quench its spectrum thirst.
Verizon Summary: Outages and $2 Fee Angers Customers
Graph ItNEW!Monday, January 2nd, 2012 by Trefis Team
After suffering from a series of outages in December month, Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) customers were again frustrated by the announcement of a $2 fee that Verizon plans to introduce for those paying their bills by phone or on Verizon’s website starting January 15th. However after a rash of complaints, it dropped plans for this billing fee. All the while Verizon had built its reputation of the quality of its cellular network, touting its reliability over rivals AT&T (NYSE:T) and Sprint (NYSE:S). The proposed fees cast a negative light on the company at a time that it looks to be distancing itself from the pack as the premier carrier for U.S. wireless service.
Our price estimate for Verizon’s stock is $43.50, which is about 10% above market price.
Telecom Weekly Notes: A Big Week for AT&T and Verizon
Graph ItNEW!Friday, December 23rd, 2011 by Trefis Team
The past week saw AT&T (NYSE:T) finally pull its bid for T-Mobile Monday, ending months of intense lobbying with regulatory and government bodies opposing the deal. Meanwhile, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) continued to limit AT&T’s spectrum options outside T-Mobile by lapping up spectrum from cable operators, now adding Cox Communications to the list that previously included Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC). It was not all bad for AT&T however, as it managed to secure all the approvals necessary for Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ:QCOM) spectrum acquisition towards the end of the week.
Verizon : All Articles
- Week of 2012-01-22
- 01/27/12 Verizon Readies for Data Boom, Big Investments Will Pay Off
- 01/27/12 Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ): Why You Should Own It
- Week of 2012-01-15
- Week of 2012-01-08
- 01/11/12 Smartphone Boom Means Data Will Get More Expensive as SMS Use Declines
- 01/09/12 Verizon’s Expected Margin Dip in Q4 Well Worth it on Record iPhone Sales
- Week of 2012-01-01
- 01/06/12 Weekly Telecom Notes: Verizon, AT&T & China Telecom
- 01/02/12 Weekly Telecom Notes: Verizon and AT&T
- 01/02/12 Verizon Summary: Outages and $2 Fee Angers Customers
- Week of 2011-12-25
- Week of 2011-12-18
- 12/23/11 Telecom Weekly Notes: A Big Week for AT&T and Verizon
- 12/21/11 Verizon Snaps up Cox Spectrum, Lapping AT&T in LTE Rollout
- Week of 2011-12-11
- 12/16/11 Weekly Telecom Notes: Verizon and AT&T
- 12/15/11 Verizon Should Partner with Redbox, But Could Stream Solo Otherwise
- 12/15/11 If Verizon Buys Netflix, Juicy FiOS Revenues are at Risk
- 12/13/11 Verizon’s Potential Redbox Partnership Looks Smart But Questions Remain
- 12/13/11 Verizon Will Ride New Streaming Service to $43.50
- 12/12/11 Telecom Weekly Notes: Verizon and AT&T
- Week of 2011-12-04
- 12/08/11 Verizon Updates: New Web Offering & Google Wallet Noise
- 12/06/11 Unlike AT&T, Verizon Will Avoid Major Regulatory Hurdles Obtaining New Spectrum
- 12/06/11 Verizon Scores Huge Win in $3.6 Billion Spectrum Deal
- Week of 2011-11-27
- Week of 2011-11-06
- Week of 2011-10-23
- Week of 2011-10-16
- 10/19/11 Verizon Earnings Preview: What We’re Watching Thursday
- 10/17/11 Telecom Weekly Notes: Sprint and AT&T
- Week of 2011-09-25
- Week of 2011-09-18
- Week of 2011-09-04
- Week of 2011-08-07
- Week of 2011-07-24
- 07/28/11 iPhone Driving Subscriber Growth for Verizon as Stock Reaches for $40
- 07/28/11 AT&T’s Smartphone Sales Driving Data Revenue Growth
- Week of 2011-07-17
- Week of 2011-07-03
- 07/08/11 Telecom, Media & Semi Notes – (VZ, NFLX, CSCO, AMD, DIS, VIA, NWS)
- 07/07/11 Verizon’s Stock Needs Breather as iPhone Sales in Q2 May Have Declined
- Week of 2011-06-26
- Week of 2011-06-19
- 06/23/11 Sprint LTE Announcement Could Move the Stock
- 06/23/11 Time Warner Cable Acquires NewWave’s Cable Systems
- Week of 2011-06-12
- 06/17/11 AT&T to Return Overbilled Taxes to Customers
- 06/16/11 Will T-Mobile Tactics Diminish Sprint’s Opprtunity?
- 06/16/11 Verizon Asking for Rare Spectrum Swap
- 06/12/11 Telecom Sector – Key Updates
- Week of 2011-06-05
- Week of 2011-05-22
- 05/27/11 Verizon to Shift from Unlimited to Shared Plans
- 05/26/11 Smartphone Trends Bolster Verizon, but Investors Might be Expecting Too Much
- 05/24/11 Verizon 4G Expansion Threatens to Leave Sprint in the Dust
- Week of 2011-05-08
- Week of 2011-05-01
- 05/05/11 TWC Results Show Broadband Growth & a Drop in Video Subscribers
- 05/04/11 Dish Saves 14% of its Value, and Perhaps More, By Settling Patent Dispute
- 05/04/11 Dish Results Beat Across the Board
- 05/04/11 Sprint’s Wireline Business Struggles Though Still ~20% of its Value
- 05/03/11 Sprint Guides to Positive Net Subscriber Additions in 2011
- Week of 2011-04-10
- 04/13/11 How Dish Could Be An Acquisition Candidate for Verizon
- 04/11/11 Dish Beefs up with Blockbuster Purchase
- Week of 2011-04-03
- Week of 2011-03-27
- 03/31/11 Verizon Can Thank AT&T for Newfound Upside
- 03/29/11 DirecTV Stock Value Justified Despite Looming Uncertainties
- Week of 2011-03-20
- 03/25/11 Comcast Says Vamos! to Spanish Website
- 03/23/11 The Race for 4G: AT&T Buys T-Mobile
- 03/21/11 Verizon Waives Activation Fee on Tablets to Drive Adoption
- Week of 2011-03-06
- Week of 2011-02-27
- Week of 2011-02-20
- Week of 2011-02-13
- Week of 2011-02-06
- 02/10/11 Will Supply Constraints Temper the iPhone’s Impact for Apple?
- 02/07/11 Sprint vs. the Market Leaders – Taking a Look at Spending Levels
- Week of 2011-01-30
- 02/04/11 LTE & iPhone, Verizon’s Recipe for Higher Smartphone Penetration
- 02/01/11 Tablets Provide Upside for AT&T as Mobile Market Saturates
- 01/31/11 Outcome of Net Neutrality Debate Will Affect Dish Network
- Week of 2011-01-23
- 01/25/11 Executing on iPhone and iPad Strategy in 2011 Would Carry Apple Past $500
- 01/25/11 DirecTV Can Fight Online Streaming Platforms Through Product Differentiation
- 01/24/11 Sprint’s New Data Plan Pricing Could Lift Stock Value 15%
- Week of 2011-01-16
- 01/21/11 Verizon Weighs in on Comcast Net Neutrality Dispute
- 01/19/11 Sprint Stock Can Run On Opportunities Outside Core Mobile Phone Operations
- 01/18/11 Could Comcast-NBC End Up Like Time Warner?
- Week of 2011-01-09
- 01/14/11 Comcast-NBC Deal, What is Comcast’s End Game?
- 01/13/11 RVU Technology Positions DirecTV for Long-Term Upside
- 01/12/11 Verizon Investors Should Be Cautious on iPhone Announcement
- 01/11/11 Verizon Gets the iPhone, Should Sprint be Worried?
- Week of 2011-01-02
- 01/07/11 Life After iPhone Exclusivity – The Outlook for AT&T
- 01/07/11 Dish Network’s Price Increase Has Minimal Impact on Bullish Company Outlook
- 01/05/11 TV Everywhere – Time Warner Cable’s Solution to Cord Cutting?
- 01/04/11 Improving Economic Outlook, Smartphone Technology Can Lift Sprint Mobile Plan Pricing
- Week of 2010-12-26
- 12/31/10 Verizon Data Revenues to Rise on Higher Smartphone Penetration
- 12/30/10 Sprint Investing in Network Modernization, Upside Potential to Stock
- 12/28/10 Google TV Could Threaten Key Revenue Streams for Broadcast Networks
- 12/28/10 Netflix Stock is a Risky Bet with Market Saturation on the Horizon
- 12/27/10 Lawsuit Could Stunt DirecTV’s Market Share Growth
- Week of 2010-12-19
- 12/23/10 Sprint’s Postpaid vs. Prepaid Customers – Who’s More Valuable?
- 12/23/10 Increased Customer Acquisition Costs Could Pressure Dish Network Stock
- 12/23/10 TWC and Sinclair Dispute Highlights Rising Costs for Cable Business, Downside for Stock
- 12/22/10 Verizon – Increasing Android Mix Can Accelerate Subscription Revenue Growth
- 12/22/10 Prepaid Market Could be Key for Sprint
- Week of 2010-12-12
- 12/17/10 Cisco Gets Small Gains From Wi-Fi Collaboration With T-Mobile
- 12/14/10 Sprint Positioned for Revenue Upside in 2011
- 12/13/10 Can Sprint Grab Market Share with 4G Tablet Release?
- 12/13/10 Android vs. Blackberry, Does Verizon Gain on Android Sales?
- Week of 2010-12-05
- 12/10/10 TWC Subscriber Fees Gain on Broadband Growth
- 12/10/10 iPhone Will Accelerate Verizon’s Data Revenue Growth
- 12/10/10 Can Motorola’s Mobile Business Keep Pace in 2011?
- 12/10/10 Verizon and AT&T’s Capital Expenditures Converging
- 12/10/10 Will US Government’s Directive on IPv6 Help Cisco?
- 12/09/10 Exploring Mobile & Data Trends at AT&T
- 12/08/10 Time Warner Cable’s Higher Leverage Adds Risk
- 12/07/10 DirecTV Can Hit $48 on Growth in Pay TV Market Share
- Week of 2010-11-28
- 12/02/10 Can DirecTV Grow Subscriber Fee Revenue?
- 12/01/10 Verizon FiOS Service Gaining Traction
- 12/01/10 Sprint’s Landline Business Slowing, Still 16% of Stock
- 11/30/10 Verizon, Sprint, AT&T Benefit From Older Data Users, Social Networking
- Week of 2010-11-21
- 11/25/10 Verizon Higher Data Revenues From 4G Launch
- 11/22/10 Could Sprint’s 4G Ambitions Include LTE?
- Week of 2010-11-14
- 11/19/10 Time Warner Cable’s ARPU Rising on Broadband
- 11/19/10 DirecTV’s Subscriber Gains Continue
- 11/18/10 Dish Network’s Margins Under Pressure From Competition
- 11/17/10 iPhone’s Standalone Business Worth More Than All But 8 Companies in the World
- 11/15/10 Qualcomm’s Multimode Chips to Help Market Share
- Week of 2010-11-07
- 11/11/10 iPad a Limited Impact on Verizon for Now
- 11/10/10 20% Sprint Upside from Higher Data Revenue
- 11/09/10 Dish Network’s HD Pricing to Drop Further?
- 11/09/10 How Sprint Can Improve its Wireless Margins
- 11/08/10 Verizon’s Broadband Market Share Could Surprise
- Week of 2010-10-31
- 11/03/10 45% Upside to Sprint if Smartphone Strategy Works
- 11/02/10 Verizon’s Broadband and Pay TV Share Grow from FiOS Push
- 11/02/10 Dish Pay TV Share Could Decline Slightly
- 11/01/10 AT&T’s Customer Satisfaction Gets Surprising Boost from iPhone
- Week of 2010-10-24
- Week of 2010-10-17
- Week of 2010-10-10
- Week of 2010-10-03
- Week of 2010-09-26
- 10/01/10 iPhone 5 Can Give Qualcomm a Small Bump
- 09/30/10 Verizon iPhone Could Knock 5% Off AT&T Stock
- 09/29/10 AT&T’s Mobile Profit Machine
- 09/29/10 Prepaid Plans Important for Sprint
- Week of 2010-09-19
- 09/24/10 AT&T’s Tiered Data Plan Gamble
- 09/21/10 Upside to Verizon from Higher Subscriber Share
- Week of 2010-09-12
- 09/17/10 AT&T’s Mobile Margins Kept in Check by Competition
- 09/15/10 New Gmail Phone Service Could Boost Google Stock by 3%
- 09/13/10 Potential 15% Upside to Sprint from Higher Internet & SMS Revenue
- Week of 2010-09-05
- 09/09/10 Time Warner Cable Stock Could Slide 12% If Subscriber Losses Continue
- 09/08/10 New Prepaid Plans Unlikely to Move Verizon Stock
- 09/07/10 Tablet PCs Could Yield 11% Upside for AT&T Stock
- 09/06/10 Diverse Phone Mix Could Lift Verizon Over AT&T
- Week of 2010-08-29
- Week of 2010-08-22
- 08/26/10 Nexus One Smartphone Less Than 1% of Google’s Stock
- 08/26/10 Higher CDMA Wireless Share Could Boost Sprint’s Stock
- 08/25/10 AT&T’s Future Depends on Mobile Data
- 08/25/10 Latin America Could Lift DirecTV Stock by 13%
- 08/24/10 New Smartphones Boost Verizon’s Wireless Business
- 08/24/10 Possible 5% Upside for Sprint Stock on Prepaid Subscriber Gains
- Week of 2010-08-15
- 08/18/10 Trefis Members Predict Small Rise in Verizon’s Mobile Market Share
- 08/17/10 TWC’s Digital Phone Margins Could Decline
- 08/16/10 Cost Cuts Should Boost Verizon
- Week of 2010-08-08
- 08/11/10 Subscriber Losses Could Hurt Dish Network’s Stock
- 08/10/10 Growth Potential from DirecTV’s Latin American Biz
- 08/09/10 DirecTV’s Ad Revenues Can Grow Despite Flat Market Share
- 08/09/10 Time Warner Cable Faces Declining VoIP Market Share Despite Rising Revenues
- Week of 2010-08-01
- 08/06/10 Subscribers Prediction Before Dish Network’s Earnings
- 08/04/10 Impact of U-Verse on AT&T’s Stock is Minimal
- 08/03/10 Happier Customers, Hotter Phones Help Sprint
- 08/02/10 Improved Margins Could Boost AT&T by 3%
- Week of 2010-07-25
- 07/30/10 AT&T’s Rising Wireless Capital Spending Could Hurt Stock
- 07/28/10 High Smartphone Prices, 3G Market Growth Yield 14% Upside for Qualcomm
- Week of 2010-07-18
- 07/23/10 Verizon’s FiOS Broadband Pricing Expected to Increase Slower
- 07/23/10 Comcast’s Stock Could See 13% Upside from Higher Expected Pay TV Market Share
- 07/19/10 Modest Share Gains and Falling Fees Expected for Verizon
- Week of 2010-07-11
- 07/15/10 Higher Carriage Fees Unlikely to Hurt Dish Network
- 07/14/10 Verizon iPhone Could Boost Qualcomm’s Stock by 4%
- 07/13/10 AT&T’s Internet Business at Risk from FCC’s Consideration of Broadband Regulation
- Week of 2010-06-27
- 07/01/10 New iPhone-like Devices Can Stem Further Sprint Losses
- 06/29/10 Sprint Betting on Growth of Prepaid Market
- Week of 2010-06-20
- Week of 2010-06-13
- 06/15/10 6% Upside to AT&T’s Stock if Enterprise Revenue Declines Are Halted
- 06/15/10 Dish Network’s High-Definition Penetration to Reach 55%
- Week of 2010-06-06
- 06/11/10 FCC Concerned by Domination of Wireless Industry by AT&T and Verizon
- 06/09/10 AT&T’s New Data Pricing Could Undermine Apple’s App and iAd Businesses
- 06/08/10 Digital Cable and Broadband Internet Equally Critical To TWC’s Stock
- Week of 2010-05-30
- Week of 2010-05-23
- Week of 2010-05-09
- 05/13/10 3G iPad’s Direct Contribution to AT&T’s Stock is Small
- 05/10/10 Sprint Benefits From Better Customer Service, Brand Image & New Smartphones
- Week of 2010-05-02
- 05/06/10 $350+ Apple Stock Price If iPhone Pricing Remains Stable
- 05/05/10 Nielsen Estimates Suggest Upside To AT&T’s Stock
- 05/04/10 New Smartphones Needed for Verizon Subscriber Growth
- 05/03/10 U-Verse Is Saving AT&T’s Wireline Business
- Week of 2010-04-25
- 04/28/10 More Smartphones and E-Readers Drive Data Revenue Growth for AT&T
- 04/26/10 Mobile Data Price War Can Hurt AT&T’s Stock
- Week of 2010-04-11
- 04/15/10 iPhone is 25% of AT&T’s Mobile Revenue and Mobile is 43% of AT&T’s Stock
- 04/13/10 Negligible Impact on Stock If Comcast Turns Fully Digital
- Week of 2010-04-04
- 04/07/10 More Competitive Wideband Pricing Needed to Boost TWC’s Stock
- 04/07/10 10% Upside to Apple’s Stock if Verizon Offers iPhones in 2011 (NASDAQ:AAPL)
- 04/05/10 Declining Landline Phone Business Still 15% of AT&T’s Stock
- Week of 2010-03-28
- 03/31/10 Flexible Triple Play Bundling Can Help AT&T’s TV and Internet Business
- 03/30/10 VoIP is a Fifth of Comcast’s Stock
- Week of 2010-03-21
- Week of 2010-03-14
- Week of 2010-03-07
- Week of 2010-02-28
- 03/04/10 Verizon and Vodafone Can Help Google Sell 5 Million Smartphones in 2010
- 03/01/10 30% Upside for Sprint Stock if it Can Revert Subscriber Losses
- Week of 2010-02-21
- 02/24/10 LTE Technology Can Limit Share Declines for Nokia Siemens Network
- 02/24/10 Featured Forecast: Sprint’s iDEN Subscribers Expected to Decline
- Week of 2010-02-14
- 02/17/10 VoIP Will Boost Sprint’s Landline Profit Margins
- 02/15/10 Price Competition Will Impact Sprint’s Prepaid Mobile Business
- Week of 2010-02-07
- 02/11/10 Verizon Could Sell More than 50 million Smartphones
- 02/09/10 3G/4G Mobile Phones Will Boost Verizon’s Data Revenue and Stock
- Week of 2010-01-31
- Week of 2010-01-24
- 01/29/10 Sprint’s Margins Squeezed
- 01/26/10 Does AT&T not know which business to invest in, or is it smarter than everyone?
- Week of 2010-01-17
- Week of 2010-01-03
- 01/05/10 Sprint’s 4G bet to win subscribers
- Week of 2009-10-04
- Week of 2009-09-13
- 09/18/09 Verizon focuses on building a cable TV business; accepts decline of its landline phone business
- Week of 2009-09-06
- Week of 2009-08-30
- Week of 2009-08-09