How Verizon’s Earnings Are Putting It Back on Track

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By Chris Lange Published
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Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reported its third-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Tuesday. The company had $1.04 in earnings per share (EPS) on $33.2 billion in revenue. That compared to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of $1.02 in EPS on revenue of $32.94 billion. In the same period of the previous year, it posted EPS of $0.89 and $31.59 billion in revenue.

In the Wireless segment, revenues totaled $23.0 billion in the third quarter, up 5.4% year over year. Operationally, Verizon added 1.3 million retail postpaid net additions in the quarter. At the same time, 5.6 million phones were activated on device installment plans; the company has about 19 million device payment phone connections in total. Finally, at the end of the third quarter, Verizon had 110.8 million retail connections, up 4.3% from the previous year.

As for the Wireline segment, revenues totaled $4.6 billion. During this quarter, Verizon added 114,000 net new fios Internet connections and 42,000 net new fios video connections, which makes a grand total of 6.9 million fios Internet and 5.8 million fios video connections.

The company’s Wireline segment deployed innovative enterprise-grade network, cloud, security, Internet of Things, mobility and other business solutions for some of the world’s leading brands, including Waste Management, Valero, Ageas and Eli Lilly, to name a few.

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Lowell McAdam, chairman and CEO of Verizon, commented on earnings:

Verizon continues to grow earnings by delivering network reliability and superior value that continues to attract new customers. Verizon Wireless posted another quarter of quality connections growth – even better than in the second quarter – while maintaining high customer loyalty and profitability. Meanwhile, fios customer growth also improved from the previous quarter. We expect future revenue growth from mobile over-the-top video, including digital advertising, and the Internet of Things.

He added:

In the first nine months of 2015, Verizon invested approximately $22 billion in spectrum licenses and capital for future network capacity, in addition to the $4 billion AOL acquisition. Over that same time, the company maintained its leverage ratio and returned more than $11 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Verizon’s Board of Directors increased dividends for the ninth consecutive year in September.

Cash flow from operating activities increased to $28.4 billion at the end of third-quarter 2015, compared with $23.2 billion at the end of third-quarter 2014. On the books, Verizon had $4.18 billion in cash, equivalents and short-term investments at the end of the third quarter, compared to $11.15 billion at the end of December 2014.

Shares of Verizon closed Monday flat at $44.70, with a consensus analyst price target of $50.58 and a 52-week trading range of $38.06 to $51.73. In early trading indications on Tuesday, shares were up nearly 2% at $45.35.

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Photo of Chris Lange
About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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