Topic: How To Invest

Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Friday, December 14, 2018

Article Excerpt

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC., $57.08, New York symbol VZ, has 116.5 million wireless users, 12.3 million phone customers and 15.4 million Internet and TV subscribers. To diversify its operations, in 2015 Verizon paid $4.4 billion for AOL. That business operates several popular websites, including The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget. In June 2017, it purchased Internet search site Yahoo for $4.5 billion. Verizon later merged all of its Internet businesses into a new division called Oath. However, Oath is facing strong competition for online advertising revenue from larger firms Google and Facebook. In the 2018 third quarter, Oath’s revenues fell 6.9% to $1.8 billion, and the business is unlikely to hit its target of $10 billion in annual revenue by 2020. As a result, Verizon will write down the value of the Oath division by $4.6 billion. That’s equal to 94% of the $4.9 billion, or $1.19 a share, that the company earned in the quarter ended September 30, 2018. Verizon also aims to cut its…