Verizon Q2 Subscriber Beat Overshadowed by 23% Profit Drop
VZ sits 17% above its 52-week low of $38.39 on light trading volume (0.2× avg).
Summary
Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q2, smashing the 103,900 consensus and marking its best consumer postpaid Q2 in five years. But net income plunged 22.9% to $3.9 billion, or $0.92 per share, dragged down by $1.8 billion in pre-tax special items. Adjusted EPS of $1.30 edged past the $1.28 estimate, while revenue slipped 0.7% to $34.3 billion on weaker equipment sales. Shares rose 2.8% as the market focused on the subscriber beat and raised annual forecast. This follows the earlier Reuters report and the 8-K filing, adding profit details and the early trading move. The subscriber momentum and cost-cutting acceleration to $5 billion in savings this year are the key positives, but the profit decline and special charges warrant watching.
At the time of this announcement, VZ was trading at $45.03 on NYSE in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $188B. The 52-week trading range was $38.39 to $51.68. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: ShareCast.