Topic: Growth Stocks

The Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, May 1, 2009

Article Excerpt

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $30.55, New York symbol VZ, reported this week that its revenue rose 11.6% in the three months ended March 31, 2009, to $26.6 billion from $23.8 billion a year earlier. This beat analysts’ forecasts of $26.3 billion. Most of this gain is the result of last January’s purchase of Alltel Corp., which sells wireless services mainly in the rural parts of 34 U.S. states. If you assume that Verizon acquired Alltel on January 1, 2008, Verizon’s revenue would have risen 3.3%. Verizon’s earnings gained 2.9%, to $1.8 billion from $1.7 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 3.3%, to $0.63 from $0.61 on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude the cost of integrating Alltel. Verizon is the largest wireless-service provider in the United States, with 86.6 million customers. Although it offers traditional telephone services, wireless continues to fuel most of Verizon’s growth. Assuming that it bought Alltel at the start of 2008, Verizon’s subscriber base rose 4.3%…