By Harshita Mary Varghese (Reuters) -Verizon beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and wireless subscriber additions on Wednesday, as promotions around the recent iPhone launches helped the U.S. wireless service provider attract more customers. The company added 44,000 total monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers in the third quarter, compared with expectations for 19,000 additions, according […]
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Verizon tops estimates for subscriber additions, profit on strong phone upgrades
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By Harshita Mary Varghese
(Reuters) -Verizon beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and wireless subscriber additions on Wednesday, as promotions around the recent iPhone launches helped the U.S. wireless service provider attract more customers.
The company added 44,000 total monthly bill-paying wireless subscribers in the third quarter, compared with expectations for 19,000 additions, according to data from FactSet.
The results could ease investor concerns that Verizon is losing ground to rivals T-Mobile, AT&T and low-cost cable providers.
Newly appointed CEO Dan Schulman said that Verizon will “no longer be the hunting ground for competitors looking to gain share.”
Schulman said Verizon will shift to a customer-centric approach for growth, with an efficient cost structure.
“For the past few years, our financial growth has relied too heavily on price increases. Every year it gets harder to grow as we lap past price increases and experience higher churn.”
Shares of the company were up about 2% in early trading.
Verizon maintains the highest price points compared to its peers, a strategy that analysts have said is difficult to sustain amid rising competitive intensity.
Carriers rolled out competitive deals, trade-in discounts, and switching benefits to attract customers as they looked to protect their customer base in an active switcher environment following the September iPhone launches.
Verizon’s customizable myPlan, which offers a three-year price guarantee, has remained popular among customers.
Over 18% of the company’s wireless postpaid users have also opted for its broadband offerings.
Verizon reaffirmed its profit and free cash flow forecast for the full year and said it expects capital expenditures to be within or below the previously guided range of $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion.
Total revenue for the quarter was $33.8 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $34.28 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
On an adjusted basis, Verizon earned $1.21 per share, topping analysts’ estimates of $1.19.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli)