Verizon Inc. Stock , VZ

The initial euphoria, which drove Verizon stock price up to $48.39 by the end of the first day, subsided after a few weeks. By the end of July 2000, the stock was only worth $42.04. Verizon and Wall Street was not satisfied with the development of the stock during the first year. This was in line with other telecom companies which were not considered stocks to buy at the time. However, this downward trend soon stopped, Verizon stock price went up a bit, and remained fairly stable throughout the first three quarters of 2001, where Verizon stock price stayed at $50. By the end of 2001, Verizon stock price began to fall and reached a low in July 2002, when Verizon stock price was only at $24.67. It was not until October that Verizon stock price rose above the $30 mark again. This positive trend intensified and by January 6th, 2003, the stock closed at $39.59. Verizon Communications Inc., providing internet to its customers in the United States, was profiting from the unstoppable Internet boom. Verizon revenue growth has Wall Street interested and its market capitalization increasing.

During the following years, Verizon stock price did not perform well. The upward trend in 2004 was followed by a period of falling stock prices which bottomed out on October 20th, 2005, when the stock was listed at $26.23. After this temporary weaker period, Verizon stock price rallied to reach $42.93 on October 29th, 2007. One year later, when the company’s stock closed at $23.52 on October 24th, 2008, the stock value had declined by 45%. It took a while until confidence among investors could be restored. The way out of this bear market was difficult. Year over year, Verizon stock price almost stagnated and was traded around $28 in October 2009. However, markets started to move upwards again. On August 10th, 2010, the stock passed the mark of $30.00 to close at $30.02 and has not fallen beneath $30.00 since August 31th, 2010. The strong increase of more than 15% between October 2009 and October 2010 shows the strong post-stock market crisis performance of Verizon’s stock.

2013 stands out in terms of soaring prices of Verizon’s stock, an increase of well above 9%, from $49.15 on March 28th, 2013, to $53.91 on April 30th, 2013.

Ever since, Verizon stock has performed solidly, closing at $46.78 on December 31st, 2014, and at $46.22 one year later. In 2016, the stock closed at $53.38 on December 30th. The stock reached a closing price of $56.53 on July 5th, 2016. In 2017, Verizon stock price flirted between the $40 and $50 range.

A strong dividend of $2.29 in 2017, earnings per share of $0.89 in Q3 of 2017, and a solid customer base in made Verizon Communications Inc. an attractive option for investors. Verizon’s recent acquisition of Yahoo! Inc. gave way to the creation of the company’s new subsidiary Oath. This opens up new possibilities for organic growth in Verizon’s media and contributes to a diversification of the company’s portfolio. And the law of net neutrality could also feature large in future revenue growth for Verizon.