Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is set to report its most recent quarterly results before the market opens on Friday. Analysts expect to see $1.23 in earnings per share (EPS) and $32.44 billion in revenue. In the first quarter of last year, the company said it had $1.20 in EPS and $32.13 billion in revenue.
Last week, Verizon announced that its Business group has agreed to acquire enterprise-grade video conferencing and event platform BlueJeans Network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Since most of the nation’s schools, colleges and businesses have been shut down in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, video conferencing has burst on the scene, primarily in the shape of Zoom Video Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM). Zoom’s share price has more than doubled since its initial public offering last April, and the platform’s ease of use has made it popular among teachers and business people who need a way to communicate as lockdowns continue.
But Zoombombing (hacking into a chat room uninvited, often making racist or threatening comments) has prompted some schools and other users to ban the use of Zoom for video conferencing and meetings.
BlueJeans Network was founded in 2009 and has received $175 million in five venture funding rounds since then. New York Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter’s venture fund is among the investors. Following its most recent funding round in 2015, BlueJeans was valued at around $725 million.
The company lists LinkedIn, ADP, Facebook, Intuit and Zillow among its customers. Unlike Zoom, BlueJeans is not free, but it does offer encrypted video, a step up from the free videos from products like Microsoft Teams and Skype, Google Hangouts, Houseparty and Apple’s Facetime, among others.
Overall, Verizon stock has outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average, with its share price down 5.5% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock was up 1.5%.
A few analysts weighed in on the stock ahead of the report:
- JPMorgan has a Neutral rating and a $62 price target.
- Barclays has a Hold rating with a $54 target price.
- Morgan Stanley rates it as Equal Weight with a $60 target.
- RBC has a Hold rating with a $57 target price.
- Credit Suisse has a Neutral rating and a $61 price target.
- SunTrust Banks has a Buy rating with a $60 price target.
Verizon stock traded relatively flat on Thursday, at $58.19 in a 52-week range of $48.84 to $62.22. The consensus price target is $59.88.
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