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- 🗞️ Verizon's Monster Q4
🗞️ Verizon's Monster Q4
PLUS: Silver plunges 30%
Market Performance
S&P 500: 6,939.03 ⬇️ 0.43%
Nasdaq: 23,461.82 ⬇️ 0.94%
Dow Jones: 48,892.47 ⬇️ 0.36%
Verizon Proves Telecom Isn't Dead Yet
Verizon (VZ) just delivered its most impressive subscriber haul in six years, and Wall Street took notice with shares surging nearly 12%—the stock's best day since 2008.
The wireless giant added 616,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q4, crushing analyst expectations of 417,250.
What's driving this?
Aggressive holiday promotions like four phone lines for $100 per month, combined with the strategic Frontier acquisition that closed January 20th.
This deal expanded Verizon's fiber footprint to over 30 million homes, putting it nearly on par with AT&T.
CEO Dan Schulman, who took the helm in October, made his ambitions clear: "Verizon will no longer be a hunting ground for our competitors."
He's backing up that talk with action—13,000 job cuts to streamline operations and a massive $25 billion share buyback authorization, with at least $3 billion planned for 2026.
The company's 2026 outlook is equally bullish: adjusted EPS of $4.90-$4.95 (versus $4.76 consensus) and free cash flow exceeding $21.5 billion (versus $20.96 billion expected).
With fiber and wireless convergence becoming the new battleground for competition, Verizon is positioning itself as a powerhouse in bundled services.
VZ stock has a Ziggma score of 55, given its sluggish growth estimates.
Our Takeaway
The question isn't whether Verizon can maintain this momentum—it's whether the promotional pricing that drove these subscriber wins will pressure margins.
Flat wireless service revenue guidance for 2026 suggests Verizon is trading profitability for market share.
Smart investors will watch churn rates and margin trends closely when Q1 results drop.
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Market Overview 📈
Friday's session saw technology stocks drag down major indices for the third consecutive day, even as President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve initially eased investor concerns about central bank independence.
The real story on Friday was the historic collapse in precious metals.
Spot gold plunged nearly 10% to $4,812.71 per ounce, while silver experienced its worst day on record, crashing 30% to $80.55.
This unwinding came as Warsh's nomination reduced fears of dollar debasement that had driven investors into metals.
Big Tech continued its post-earnings volatility.
Apple swung between gains and losses despite crushing estimates, with 23% growth in iPhone revenue.
This followed Microsoft's brutal 10% Thursday drop—its worst day since 2020, erasing over $350 billion in market cap.
KLA Corp shed 15% on growth deceleration concerns.
The small-cap Russell 2000 outperformed for January with a 5.3% monthly gain—its best since August—though it fell 1.5% Friday.
Stock Moves Deciphered 📈
🥾 Deckers Outdoor (DECK)
Deckers Outdoor exploded 19.5% higher after demolishing Q3 expectations and raising full-year guidance across the board.
The footwear giant reported 7% revenue growth, driven by strong demand for its UGG and HOKA brands.
Management raised full-year revenue, gross margin, and EPS guidance, signaling sustained momentum through 2026.
🛜 Charter Communications (CHTR)
Charter Communications surged 7.62% as investors embraced its mobile growth story and strategic network expansion plans.
The cable operator added nearly 2 million mobile lines in 2025, demonstrating it can compete effectively in wireless despite operating virtually on Verizon's infrastructure.
CEO Chris Winfrey emphasized the "long-term" nature of the revamped MVNO deal with Verizon, while analysts at MoffettNathanson highlighted the rural buildout and network upgrade initiatives as key growth drivers.
🧑✈️ Robert Half (RHI)
Robert Half surged 27% after reporting Q4 earnings that beat expectations and signaling a return to sequential growth for the first time in over three years.
The staffing firm's Q1 2026 guidance of $1.26B–$1.36B revenue implied positive momentum, triggering a powerful short-covering rally and sentiment shift among investors.
Headlines You Can't Miss 👀
💳 Visa beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $3.17 on $10.9 billion revenue, powered by surging cross-border payments. Shares still dipped 1% as investors took profits.
📊 Producer Prices rose 0.5% in December (vs 0.3% expected), though the annual rate cooled to 3% from 3.5%, suggesting tariff impacts haven't fully materialized yet.
⚡ Fed's Waller explained his dissent vote, warning jobs data revisions will show "virtually no growth in payroll employment in 2025. Zero. Zip. Nada," citing labor market deterioration risks.
🏛️ Sen. Tillis opposed Warsh's nomination until the DOJ's criminal investigation into Jerome Powell is resolved, citing concerns about Federal Reserve independence.
💊 Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill saw 26,109 prescriptions in its second week—ahead of comparable obesity drug launches. UBS analysts noted minimal cannibalization of the injectable market despite lower pill pricing.
Trending Stocks 📊
⛏️ Newmont Corporation (NEM)
The world's largest gold miner couldn't escape Friday's precious metals carnage, tumbling 7.2% as spot gold retreated nearly 10% from all-time highs.
Despite a positive analyst rating and solid operational performance, Newmont got swept up in the broader metals selloff.
Margin calls and forced liquidation in silver likely spilled over into gold positions, accelerating the decline.
🛢️ Chevron (CVX)
Chevron delivered a Q4 earnings beat on the back of record oil production, posting adjusted EPS of $1.52 versus $1.45 expected.
The energy giant's operational execution was flawless, but revenue of $46.87 billion fell short of estimates, keeping the stock's gains muted.
Record production demonstrates Chevron's ability to maximize output efficiency, but softer-than-expected revenue signals pricing headwinds in the oil market.
With crude prices range-bound and refining margins under pressure, even best-in-class operators are struggling to drive top-line growth.
Still, Chevron's fortress balance sheet and commitment to shareholder returns keep it a defensive energy play for income-focused investors.
⛽️ Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Exxon Mobil posted a solid Q4 beat with adjusted EPS of $1.71 (versus $1.68 expected) and revenue of $82.31 billion (topping $81.43 billion estimates), yet shares still slipped 2% in Friday's session.
The culprit? Profit-taking after a strong run and concerns about sustaining production growth.
The company achieved its highest full-year net production in over 40 years at 4.7 million barrels per day—an impressive operational milestone.
But investors are forward-looking, and questions linger about whether Exxon can maintain this pace while managing capital returns and energy transition investments.
The revenue beat matters more than the modest stock decline. It shows Exxon is executing on both volume and value.
What’s Next?
Key market and macro news 👇
💰 Walt Disney Q4 Earnings: Media giant reports Q4 results with consensus EPS estimate of $1.57, representing 10.80% YoY decline.
🚑 IDEXX Laboratories Q4 Earnings: Medical instruments company expected to report $2.93 EPS, up 11.83% YoY.
🍖 Tyson Foods Q4 Earnings: Meat products company forecasted to report $1.01 EPS, down 11.40% YoY.
📑 The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) measures job openings and labor market dynamics. It is a critical indicator for Federal Reserve policy decisions, and a significant deviation from expectations could trigger broad market volatility.
📖 The Employment Situation Report expects 70K payroll growth, a 4.4% unemployment rate, and 0.3% wage growth.
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