Verizon reported first quarter revenue of $32.9 billion, up 4% from a year ago, with non-GAAP earnings of $1.31 a share. Under generally accepted accounting, Verizon had earnings of $5.4 billion, or $1.27 a share.
Wall Street was expecting Verizon to deliver first quarter sales of $32.46 billion and non-GAAP earnings of $1.29 a share.
The telecom giant said its core business was strong, but there were moving parts. For instance, Verizon’s consumer wireless lost 326,000 retail postpaid customers including 225,000 phone net losses. But Verizon’s consumer Fios business had 98,000 Internet net additions and 102,000 total Fios net additions.
On the business side, Verizon added 156,000 retail postpaid net additions including 47,000 net phone adds.
Overall, Verizon’s wireless unit had service revenue of $16.7 billion, up 2.4% from a year ago, with 170,000 retails postpaid net losses.
The results reflect the battleground for 5G consumer lines is brutal as T-Mobile takes share. The first quarter featured heavy promotions for the Samsung Galaxy S21 launch. On the business front, Verizon is better positioned and has 5G traction for edge computing with a bevy of ecosystem partners.
Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said the addition of C-Band spectrum will bolster its network-as-a-service strategy. That strategy was outlined on Verizon’s investor day earlier this year. Vestberg acknowledged the company is facing “intense competition” but delivering revenue growth across its three business segments.
The company’s plan revolves around spending to build out its 5G Ultra Wideband and nationwide network. Verizon said it has also hit its 2018 goal of saving $10 billion in ongoing expenses.
As for the outlook, Verizon is projecting 2021 non-GAAP earnings of $5 to $5.15 a share, service and other revenue growth of about 2%. Verizon will have capital spending between $17.5 billion and $18.5 billion to build out its 5G network as well its 4G LTE network.
Recent developments:
Key items in the quarter include:
- Verizon’s consumer business lost 225,000 net phone accounts and 171,000 tablet lines. The company added 70,000 other connected devices.
- Retail postpaid churn in the quarter was 0.97%.
- Verizon lost 82,000 Fios video customers, but customers are upgrading to faster Internet tiers for service and driving revenue growth.
- Among businesses, Verizon added 47,000 phone net additions and 79,000 tablet net adds.
- Verizon Media, which includes AOL and Yahoo properties, reported revenue of $1.9 billion in the first quarter, up 10.4% from a year ago.
