Verizon Earnings Edge By Views But Wireless Subscribers Miss| Investor’s Business Daily

Verizon Communications (VZ) on Friday reported September-quarter adjusted earnings and revenue that edged by estimates. But VZ stock fell as the telecom added fewer postpaid wireless phone subscribers than expected.

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Reporting before the market open, the telecom firm said third-quarter profit fell 7% year over year to $1.32 a share, excluding special items. Revenue rose 4% to $34.2 billion.

A year earlier, Verizon earned $1.42 a share on revenue of $32.9 billion. Analysts had projected Verizon earnings of $1.29 a share on revenue of $33.8 billion.

Verizon said it added 8,000 postpaid phone subscribers, although it lost 189,000 customers in its consumer business. Analysts had estimated a gain of 32,000 of postpaid subscribers. In the year-earlier period, Verizon added 429,000 postpaid wireless phone customers.

Verizon Stock: Key Metric Tops Views

Verizon stock dropped 4.4% to 35.38 just after the opening bell on the stock market today as the Nasdaq composite also retreated. Heading into the Verizon earnings report, VZ stock had declined 29% thus far this year despite its dividend.

Verizon also reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of $12.2 billion. That’s down a fraction from a year earlier, but ahead of estimates for $12.06 billion.

In addition, wireless service revenue rose 10% to $18.8 billion vs. analyst estimates of $18.76 billion.

Verizon stock holds a Relative Strength Rating of only 24 out of a possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.

Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.

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