VZ - Better Buy: CenturyLink vs. Verizon
Putting CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in the same ring to duke it out doesn't seem like a fair fight. Verizon is one of the two largest wireless carriers in the country. CenturyLink is a struggling telecommunications provider, fighting for scraps that the industry titans leave behind.
Verizon isn't exactly a market darling. Revenue has risen by no more than 4% in each of the past three years. But it's a speed freak compared with CenturyLink, which has posted declining revenue in five of the past seven years. The two years in which it did manage to shell out positive top-line spurts, it was entirely the handiwork of its roughly $25 billion acquisition of Level 3 in 2017.
Image source: CenturyLink.