Verizon posted second-quarter earnings that met analyst expectations and revenue that beat.
Shares rose less than 1 percent in pre-market trading.
Here’s how the company did compared to what Wall Street expected:
- EPS: 96 cents per share vs. 96 cents expected, according to Thomson Reuters
- Revenue: $30.55 billion vs. $29.91 billion expected, according to Thomson Reuters
Earnings per share was slightly up at 96 cents from 94 cents in the year-ago quarter. Revenue was also slightly up at $30.55 billion from $30.53 billion in the year-earlier quarter.
Total wireless revenues shrunk 1.9 percent to $21.3 billion from the year-ago quarter. Verizon reported 614,000 wireless net adds, compared with 86,000 net adds in the second quarter last year.
The company reported its introduction of unlimited data plans increased LTE network usage year over year. Verizon is mitigating lost revenue from overages as some customers create new accounts and others move up to unlimited plans, the company said in a press release.
Retail postpaid churn rates, or the percentage of subscribers that cancels their service, was 0.94 percent. The total was lower, therefore better, than Wall Street’s expectation of 1.08 percent.
“Verizon reignited its growth engine in the quarter, both adding and retaining wireless customers while scaling our media business and continuing to invest in our superior networks,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said in a statement.
Verizon expects its full-year revenues to be “fairly consistent” with last year and its adjusted earnings per share to be similar to revenue trends. Wall Street expects full-year earnings per share of $3.75 and revenue of $122.47 billion.
Earlier in the week, a Citigroup analyst said Comcast should buy Verizon. Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment on the note.
Verizon completed its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo last month. Earlier this month, Verizon suffered a data breach that affected as many as 14 million customers.
Verizon started selling unlimited data plans in February, during its first quarter. The company boasted the new plan changed the trajectory of customer additions, helping it gain customers. The second quarter was the company’s first full quarter where unlimited plans were offered.
Shares of Verizon are down almost 18 percent this year. The company’s stock hit an intraday 52-week low of $42.80 earlier this month.