Verizon Stock (NYSE:VZ)
Despite AT&T’s (NYSE:T) substantial outperformance this year, the distance between it and longstanding telecom competitor Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has the opportunity to grow, according to Barclays, because of Verizon’s difficulties.
Third-quarter results for Verizon (VZ) were disappointing, sending the Verizon stock to a 12-year low. Still, analyst Kannan Venkateshwar points out that this underperformance was already included in market expectations.
To simplify matters, “three quarters of consumer reductions still stands out in an industry when overall growth is running at record levels,” and attrition is also at a multi-year high.
According to Venkateshwar, Verizon’s expansion plan is fraught with inconsistencies. Despite raising costs for 75% of its customer base, who on average pay the highest prices in the business, gross addition trends improved, seemingly driven by the $30 Welcome entry-level plan. (Meanwhile, T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) is encouraging subscribers to upgrade to its most expensive Magenta Max package.)
He claims that “Verizon’s primary challenge is paradoxically its prior success,” with the company being “an easy target for new entrants and its smaller telecom rivals” due to its “industry-leading position in every subscriber group” and “industry-high average revenue per user.”
The business has to re-adjust its position in the new competitive matrix to be on a more sustainable route, according to Venkateshwar. “Overall, we think it is going to be tricky for Verizon to dig out of its current issues with tactical adjustments in strategy,” he added.
However, due to industry growth risk and a lack of insight on next year’s price, the bank is not moving Overweight on AT&T. After reaching “extraordinarily” low levels last year, bad debts for both AT&T and Verizon stock have returned to 2019 levels, presenting some additional margin risk, as noted by Venkateshwar.
Given AT&T’s historical record, he agrees with other analysts that investors are unlikely to enthusiastically engage in optimism on the company unless there are actual indicators of cash flow improvement.
Barclays cut its price target on Verizon stock from $40 to $37 (from $35.93) while increasing its estimate on AT&T from $18 to $19 (now suggesting 9% upside).
Featured Image- Unsplash @ Leon Bredella
Author Shariq Khan 