Why Verizon Stock Skyrocketed 20.4% Last Month and Is Rising in March
Key Points
Verizon posted big gains in February as analysts significantly raised their price targets on the stock.
The company's strong quarterly report at the end of January helped power the gains.
Verizon has managed to keep gaining in March despite volatility for the broader market.
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Verizon (NYSE: VZ) stock continued to rally in February following the company's strong fourth-quarter results at the end of January. The telecommunications' share price surged 20.4% higher in the month, and the performance looks even stronger amid a 0.9% decline for the S&P 500 and a 3.4% decline for the Nasdaq Composite in the month.
Blowout quarters are a rare thing in Verizon's corner of the telecommunications industry, but the company delivered at the end of January -- and it's translated into a sustained rally for the stock. The stock is now up roughly 25.5% across 2026's trading.
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Analysts became much more bullish on Verizon last month
Following its strong fourth-quarter report, Verizon received a large number of stock rating raises and price-target increases in February. Firms including JPMorgan Chase, RBC Capital, Scotiabank, UBS, Wells Fargo, TD Cowen, and Morgan Stanley all increased their price target forecasts for the telecommunications company's share price near the beginning of February.
The last major piece of bullish analyst coverage for the stock last month arrived on Feb. 19, with Daiwa raising its rating on the company from outperform to buy. The investment firm also increased its one-year price target on the stock from $48 per share to $58 per share.
Daiwa's analysts singled out Verizon's addition of 616,000 net postpaid subscribers in the quarter as a fantastic performance achievement. The team also said that it thinks that strong momentum for customer additions is sustainable this year and that the company's valuation offered the best risk-reward profile in the telecom sector. Despite big gains in last month's trading and continued momentum in March, Daiwa's price target still implies additional upside of roughly 13.5%.
Verizon has kept moving higher in March
The broader market has been roiled by volatility early in March's trading, but Verizon stock has continued to climb in the month. The company's share price is up 1.9% across the stretch so far.
The war with Iran has broadly sent stocks lower, and the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has added to the pressure. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecasted that the U.S. economy would shed 50,000 nonfarm jobs in February, but the number actually came in at 92,000.
Geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility have added to concerns that inflation could pick back up and cause the Federal Reserve to hold off on cutting interest rates. Investors have broadly been reducing exposure to stocks in response, and growth-dependent companies have been particularly hard hit. On the other hand, some dividend-paying value stocks have seen valuation gains recently.
Even after its big rally, Verizon trades at just 10.4 times this year's expected earnings and pays a dividend yielding roughly 5.4%. Shares are substantially more expensive than they were at the beginning of the year, but the stock doesn't appear to be prohibitively valued after the gains.
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Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends Bank Of Nova Scotia and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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