Verizon CommunicationsVZCOMMENTMay 10, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Oct 23, 2026. Market Open.
Starlink is a bit of a red herring -- Elon is a promoter, and this is a long-dated opportunity (if it happens at all).
Stocks overreacted to the downside. About 80% of the 1-day fall was made up in 5-6 days. Produces significant cashflow. CEO is more of an entrepreneur. Great opportunity. Yield is almost 6%.
A changed company. Older business model was volume-based, now has a bit more of an entrepreneurial spirit and is a bit more growthy. Cutting back on getting the customer at any price to a higher-quality customer. New focus is turning up in cashflow. Returning a lot of cash to investors, lots of buybacks.
Defensive play. Yield is 5.67%.
The only reason to buy this is because of its very high dividend. After 20 years, you are back where you started with this, but all along the way you have collected a good dividend. This company has some massive issues, because the costs for cell phone usage keeps coming down, and that is not a good model when your revenues keep coming down. Their debt was downgraded and is now rated as a BBB. The dividend is safe now, but someday you worry whether that will continue. He likes dividends, but he also likes dividend increases.