Morgan Stanley Has Positive Outlook on Verizon Communications

In a report published Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analyst Simon Flannery reiterated an Overweight rating and $54.00 price target on

. In the report, Morgan Stanley noted, “Management comfortable with third quarter trends, as competition increases. CEO Lowell McAdam said that postpaid net adds are tracking +40% QTD versus 3Q13 (as of mid-September), with management citing strength around back to school and the release of a new iPhone. Investors are nervous about what a competitive Sprint could mean for the industry, and Verizon, in particular.While promotional activity picked up around the iPhone launch, with Verizon highlighting their trade-in program and offering double data for 15 GB+ packages, the company remains disciplined, with ~12% take rate for the Edge program through mid-September. For the third quarter, we estimate ~1.3M postpaid net adds (~1.0M tablets),and 0.98% postpaid churn.” Verizon Communications closed on Monday at $48.37.