Verizon Communications (VZ) closed the latest trading day at $43.56, indicating a -0.98% change from the previous session's end. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.77%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 1.42%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 2.28%.

Shares of the largest U.S. cellphone carrier witnessed a gain of 2.88% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Computer and Technology sector with its loss of 9.47% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.73%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Verizon Communications in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.14, reflecting a 0.87% decrease from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $33.46 billion, indicating a 1.44% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $4.69 per share and revenue of $136.75 billion, indicating changes of +2.18% and +1.46%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Verizon Communications. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has remained steady. At present, Verizon Communications boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Verizon Communications is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.39. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.53.

Meanwhile, VZ's PEG ratio is currently 4.6. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Wireless National industry was having an average PEG ratio of 3.1.

The Wireless National industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 24, this industry ranks in the top 10% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.

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Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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