FBR Capital analyst David Dixon views the 3.3% selloff yesterday in shares of Verizon Communications following the company's Q1 results as a buying opportunity. While the top-line and adjusted EBITDA results modestly missed expectations, total retail wireless net adds of 463,000 handily beat the consensus, Dixon tells investors in a research note. The pullback provides an opportunity to own a "best-in-class defensive name," the analyst contends. He keeps an Outperform rating on Verizon with a $54 price target.

Ribbon Communications (RRBN) announced plans for a major network modernization program with Verizon (VZ) to retire legacy TDM switching platforms and replace their function with modern cloud-based technologies. Verizon is leveraging Ribbon's portfolio of Voice Products including the vC20 Call Controller, G5 Line Access Gateway, G6 Universal Media Gateway, virtual and Cloud-native Session Border Controllers, and other products which allows for the consolidation and replacement of equipment with energy efficient, software-centric platforms while maintaining full feature functionality.