Verizon results include one-cent-per-share impact from hurricanes in Florida and Texas
Verizon’s stock was up nearly two percent in midday trading, after the carrier met analysts’ estimates of its quarterly earnings and beat consensus on revenues.
Among the key numbers from Verizon’s results for the third quarter:
-Verizon said that it added 30,000 postpaid accounts in the third quarter, versus a loss of 107,000 postpaid customers in 2016’s third quarter. The carrier reported growth of 603,000 retail postpaid connections, with net phone additions of 274,000, up from 242,000 smartphone addition in the same period last year. “The 603,000 postpaid net adds included tablet net adds of 91,000 and net adds of other connected devices, led by wearables, of 238,000. The company had 109.7 million retail postpaid connections and 5.6 million retail prepaid connections at the end of the quarter,” Verizon said.
-Telematics revenues were more than $220 million, and organic internet of things revenues were up about 13% year over year.
– The carrier now has about 78% of its postpaid phone base on unsubsidized service plans, up from 60% a year ago. Phone activations on device payment plans were at 77%, flat from the same period last year; Verizon said it expects a seasonal bump in that rate during the fourth quarter.
Analyst Bill Ho of 556 ventures noted that like AT&T, Verizon’s device upgrade rate has been trending lower.
#Verizon quarterly device upgrade rates trend downward, consistent w/peers. Only #ATT upgrade rates lower. $VZ $T pic.twitter.com/vlBkSSsu9P
— 🅱🅸🅻🅻 🅷🅾 (@billho888) October 19, 2017
-The carrier said that “as expected, the introduction of unlimited wireless pricing plans has increased LTE network usage” but went on to say that it “has network capabilities and pricing plan features to handle this increase while maintaining a high-quality experience for customers.” Verizon said that just over 50% of its low- and mid-band spectrum is being used for LTE.
-Wireline revenues were up 1.1% year over year, but declined 2.7% when the operations of acquisitions were excluded. The service provider said that it added 66,000 Fios internet connections during the quarter while losing 18,000 Fios video customers, “reflecting the ongoing shift from traditional linear video to over-the-top offerings.”
D.M. Martins Research noted in its assessment of the results that “the solid performance, however, came mostly on the back of inorganic growth (primarily media and telematics), without which Verizon would have landed sales -2% below year-ago levels.”
