- Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan maintained Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) with an Outperform rating and a $64 price target (26% upside) ahead of its Q2 earnings results.
- With a safe dividend yield and low leverage, the analyst believes investors value its consistently simpler story and longstanding network quality, which is expected to remain a focus of differentiation in the coming quarters.
- Following recent commentary on the conference circuit and his conversations with management, he made slight adjustments ahead of 2Q22 earnings scheduled for July 22.
- Also Read: Read Raymond James’ Take On AT&T Ahead Of Its 2Q Results
- Specifically, he raised his 2Q22 consumer and commercial wireless services revenue estimates to $15.41 billion and $3.26 billion from $15.36 billion and $3.19 billion, respectively.
- Meanwhile, he took 2Q22 consumer wireless retail net adds to (152)K from (3)K and maintained a commercial wireless retail net adds an estimated 177K for 2Q22.
- Most of the adjustments came from the pricing action Verizon is taking proactively to offset higher operating costs from inflation.
- He believes additional revenue will be used for promotions and marketing over the next year, particularly if competition remains tough.
- He does not expect additional pricing actions and believes they intend to hold firm on the promotional activity around wireless.
- Price Action: VZ shares traded lower by 0.30% at $50.72 on the last check Thursday.
- Photo Via Wikimedia Commons
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