Verizon Stock Was Dow's Best-Performing Ticker Thursday, Despite Negative Press

Verizon customers may be fuming over the recent revelation that the company is dutifully turning over customer phone records in compliance with government orders -- but that news didn't seem to hurt the company's stock performance on Thursday.

Verizon's stock price rose 3.46 percent Thursday, making it the best-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the day.

Overall, the Dow rose 80 points Thursday, ending back over 15,000 after tumbling more than 200 points Wednesday.

Verizon was at the center of one of Thursday's biggest news stories after the Guardian reported that the National Security Agency is collecting the phone records of millions of Verizon Communications customers as a result of a top-secret court order that was issued in April. But Verizon may not be the only company involved in the government's surveillance efforts.

The Huffington Post's Gerry Smith reported Thursday that switching phone carriers may not do the trick for customers looking to protect their privacy.

"I think it's quite probable, given the breadth of the Verizon order, that similar orders have been granted for all major telephone companies," said Sascha Meinrath, the vice president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank. "We are likely looking at a nationwide fishing expedition of everyone's phone records and geolocation, updated daily and covering nearly every call originating in the U.S."

Of course, stock movements are totally normal, and it's hard to tell what exactly caused Verizon's gains.

Hat tip: Zach Seward