Verizon Communications early Tuesday reported mixed third-quarter results as adjusted earnings beat views while revenue came in slightly below Wall Street targets. Verizon stock dipped on the news, undercutting a buy point.
The company said it added 239,000 wireless postpaid phone business and consumer subscribers, topping estimates of 218,000. Billed monthly, postpaid phone subscribers are the highest spending wireless subscribers. Of the 239,000 subscribers added, 81,000 came from consumer services, including "second number" promotions. In Q3, consumer subscriber adds were positive for the first time since 2021.
For the period ended Sept. 30, Verizon earnings came in at $1.19 per share on an adjusted basis, excluding one-time items, down 2% from a year earlier. Revenue for Verizon stock was flat at $33.3 billion.
Analysts had predicted Verizon earnings of $1.18 per share, with revenue at $33.5 billion.
"While we view trends as broadly healthy, we believe expectations for Verizon and its wireless peers had crept up coming into the print," said Evercore ISI analyst Kutgun Maral in a report.
Also, wireless service revenue climbed nearly 2.7% to $19.8 billion, slowing from 3.5% growth in the previous quarter, versus estimates of $20.07 billion.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $12.5 billion, edging by estimates of $12.39 billion.
On the stock market today, Verizon stock fell 3.6% to 42.11 in morning trades, dropping below a 43.42 buy point from a five-month consolidation initially cleared on Sept. 10.
Verizon Stock: Technical Ratings
In Q3, Verizon said it added 363,000 fixed wireless broadband customers. It had 4.2 million fixed wireless broadband customers as of Sept. 30.
"Total FWA revenue, which is included in wireless service revenue, was $562 million for the quarter," said Verizon Chief Financial Officer Tony Skiadas. "That was up $215 million versus the prior year period. FWA is on pace to generate more than $2 billion in revenue for us this year."
Heading into the Verizon earnings report, Verizon shares had advanced 16% in 2024. Verizon stock holds a Relative Strength Rating of 65 out of a possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.
Further, AT&T and T-Mobile US report earnings on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, AT&T stock has gained nearly 30% in 2024 while T-Mobile stock has advanced 39%.
In September, Verizon announced plans to acquire Frontier Communications for $20 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close in approximately 18 months and should be slightly accretive to financials in 2027, the company said.
Meanwhile, Frontier is the largest pure play fiber provider in the U.S. with 10 million home passings expected by the end of 2026. The company has 2.2 million fiber network subscribers currently across 25 states.
The Frontier deal could further delay a buyback of Verizon stock.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
