Verizon Communications (VZ) Now Trades Above Golden Cross: Time to Buy?

After reaching an important support level, Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) could be a good stock pick from a technical perspective. VZ recently experienced a "golden cross" event, which saw its 50-day simple moving average breaking out above its 200-day simple moving average.

A golden cross is a technical chart pattern that can signify a potential bullish breakout. It's formed from a crossover involving a security's short-term moving average breaking above a longer-term moving average, with the most common moving averages being the 50-day and the 200-day, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

There are three stages to a golden cross. First, there must be a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out. Then, the stock's shorter moving average crosses over its longer moving average, triggering a positive trend reversal. The third stage is when a stock continues the upward momentum to higher prices.

A golden cross contrasts with a death cross, another widely-followed chart pattern that suggests bearish momentum could be on the horizon.

VZ has rallied 24.6% over the past four weeks, and the company is a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank at the moment. This combination indicates VZ could be poised for a breakout.

The bullish case solidifies once investors consider VZ's positive earnings outlook. For the current quarter, no earnings estimate has been cut compared to 8 revisions higher in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased too.

Given this move in earnings estimates and the positive technical factor, investors may want to keep their eye on VZ for more gains in the near future.

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

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