Verizon stock slips though earnings, revenue top expectations

Verizon Communications reported first-quarter adjusted earnings that topped estimates while revenue also came in above Wall Street targets. Verizon stock edged down on Wednesday as it lost fewer postpaid wireless phone subscribers than expected.

For the March quarter, Verizon earnings were $1.31 an adjusted share, excluding items. Revenue rose 4% to $32.9 billion in the three months ended March 31.

A year earlier, Verizon earned $1.26 a share on revenue of $31.6 billion. Analysts had projected Verizon earnings of $1.29 a share on revenue of $32.47 billion.

Wireless service revenue rose 2.4% to $16.7 billion. Further, Verizon said it lost 178,000 postpaid wireless phone subscribers vs. analyst estimates for a 198,000 loss.

Verizon stock slipped 0.4% to close at 58.14 on the stock market today.

Verizon stock: subscribers migrating to higher priced plans
The telecom is steadily upgrading customers to higher-priced unlimited data plans, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said in a report to clients.

“Today’s result already shows postpaid ARPU (average revenue per user) growing at a healthier pace than we’ve seen since before the pandemic began, and it should
only get better from here,” Moffett said. However, Moffett added that Verizon may struggle versus T-Mobile US in 5G wireless network quality.

In the Verizon earnings report, business unit revenue rose 1.3% to $7.8 billion. Verizon Media revenues were $1.9 billion, up about 10.4%.

Despite its dividend, Verizon stock holds a paltry Relative Strength Rating of 21 out of a best possible 99. Verizon stock trades below an entry point of 62.05. Investor’s Business Daily