Shares of Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ ) are trading lower Thursday as the telecommunications sector digests earnings results from a key rival. Here’s what investors need to know.

VZ shares are experiencing downward pressure. Find out why here.

What To Know: Competitor T-Mobile Us Inc ( TMUS ) set a high bar, announcing record-breaking third-quarter results that included 2.3 million net customer additions, calling the performance its “best-ever and best in the industry.”

T-Mobile’s one million postpaid phone net customer additions, a crucial industry metric, marked its highest third quarter ever, and has intensified the focus on the competitive landscape for carriers. T-Mobile also beat analyst estimates and raised its full-year guidance for customer growth, adding to pressure across the sector.

Despite the positive report, T-Mobile shares were also trading down over 4% on Thursday.

The focus now shifts to Verizon’s own financial update. The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 29. Wall Street consensus estimates are for earnings per share of $1.19 on revenue of $34.23 billion. Investors will be closely monitoring Verizon’s subscriber numbers to see how it fared against competitors.

Benzinga Edge Rankings: Highlighting the stock’s poor price trend, Verizon has a Benzinga Edge Momentum score of just 20.31.

VZ Price Action: Verizon Communications ( VZ ) shares were down 2.45% at $38.82 at the time of publication on Thursday. The stock is near its 52-week low of $37.58, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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How To Buy VZ Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Verizon Communications’ case, it is in the Communication Services sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

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