Verizon Q3 Results Beat Estimates On Wireless Growth

(RTTNews) - Telecommunications giant Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ) said Tuesday that its profit for the third quarter increased by 9 percent from last year, aided by customer demand for its wireless and Fios fiber-optic-based services. The results for the quarter beat analysts' estimates.

Looking ahead, the company said it expects future revenue growth from mobile over-the-top video, including digital advertising, and the Internet of Things. In September Verizon launched go90, a differentiated, mobile-first social entertainment platform.

Verizon noted that its wireless division continued to deliver profitable, quality postpaid connections growth and low churn.

The latest quarter's results include revenues from AOL, which the company acquired in June.

Wireless revenues for the quarter grew 5.4 percent from last year to $23.01 billion. Verizon Wireless had total retail connections of 110.8 million at the end of the quarter, up 4.3 percent year-over-year.

The company added 1.21 million net retail connections in the quarter, down 21 percent from last year. Retail postpaid connections grew 4.9 percent to 105 million, with net new additions of 1.29 million retail postpaid connections and a retail postpaid churn rate of 0.93 percent.

Verizon's wireline division generated total operating revenues of $9.36 billion, down 2.3 percent from the year-ago quarter.

However, FiOS revenues grew 7.5 percent year-over-year to $3.4 billion. The company added 114,000 net new FiOS Internet connections and 42,000 net new FiOS Video connections in the quarter.

Third-quarter net income attributable to Verizon was $4.04 billion or $0.99 per share, up from $3.70 billion or $0.89 per share in the year-ago period.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.04 per share. On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.02 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total operating revenues for the quarter grew 5 percent to $33.16 billion from $31.59 billion in the prior-year quarter and beat analysts' consensus estimate of $32.94 billion.

Service revenues and other edged down 0.8 percent from last year to $28.87 billion, while wireless equipment revenues surged 73 percent to $4.29 billion.

VZ closed Monday's trading at $44.70. In Tuesday's pre-market activity, the stock is up $1.00 or 2.25 percent to $45.50.