Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. VZ fell 3.7% Thursday, leading Dow Jones Industrial Average losers in the wake of peer AT&T Inc.’s T earnings report that showed slowing growth in postpaid phone subscribers and a miss on quarterly free-cash flow. Verizon is due to post its own first-quarter numbers before Tuesday’s opening bell. AT&T’s postpaid phone net additions of 424,000 indicates the “switcher pool could be shrinking,” Citi Research analyst Michael Rollins wrote in a note to clients following the report. MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett wrote that investors “won’t know until other companies report the extent to which AT&T’s subscriber deceleration reflects a loss of market share versus simply a slowing market.” Shares of T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS slipped as well Thursday, dropping 1.9%, while AT&T’s stock logged a 10.4% decline, making for its largest single-day percentage decline since Dec. 19, 2000.
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