Telecom & Wireless

Why Verizon's Earnings Were Not Good Enough

Verizon logo
Source: courtesy of Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) reported second-quarter 2015 results before markets opened Tuesday. The telecom giant reported quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.04 on revenues of $32.22 billion. In the same period a year ago, Verizon reported EPS of $0.91 on revenues of $31.48 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to the consensus estimates for EPS of $1.01 on revenues of $31.48 billion.

In the second quarter of 2014, EPS included a $0.10 per share one-time gain; there were no adjustments to this year’s quarterly income.

Verizon Wireless added 1.1 million net retail connections in the second quarter, of which all were postpaid (contract) subscribers. At the end of the quarter, Verizon Wireless claimed 35.56 million retail accounts and 109.5 million retail connections. Average revenue per (postpaid) account (ARPA) fell 3.8% year over year to $153.73 a month.

Wireless operating margin in the second quarter improved from 32.5% in the second quarter of 2014 to 34% this year. Total revenues in the wireless business came in at $22.61 billion, up 5.3% year over year. Operating expenses rose by 2.9% $14.92 billion.

In the second-quarter’s wireline business, revenues dropped 2.2% to $9.42 billion and operating margin improved from 2.6% in the year-ago quarter to 5.3%.

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Verizon claimed 6.82 million Internet connections and 5.77 million video connections to its FiOS fiber network at the end of June, up 8.1% and 6.4%, respectively.

The situation is less upbeat when we look at net additions in the wireline business. Verizon added 26,000 net video subscribers in the quarter and 72,000 net Internet subscribers, down 74% and 48.2% compared with the second quarter of 2014. These numbers will weigh on shares.

The company’s CEO said:

Verizon has delivered another quarter of strong financial and operational results, based on consistent network reliability and superior value that continues to attract new customers. In the second quarter, we again balanced quality Verizon Wireless connections growth with low churn and profitability, and we announced and completed our acquisition of AOL. We’re now poised to offer customers exciting new over-the-top (OTT) mobile video services, and we look forward to a very positive second half of 2015.

Consensus estimates for the third quarter call for EPS of $1.00 on revenues of $32.87 billion. For the full 2015 fiscal year, estimated EPS totals $3.85 on revenues of $131.3 billion.

Shares traded down about 1.7% at $47.28 in premarket trading Tuesday, in a 52-week range of $45.09 to $53.66. Prior to the release, Thomson/Reuters had a consensus price target of around $52.00 on the company’s shares.

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