Verizon Adds 1.3 Million Wireless Customers, Narrowly Tops Earnings Estimates

Verizon on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings just ahead of expectations as the company added 1.3 million customers.

Excluding certain items, the company said it earned $1.04 on revenue of $33.2 billion. The company was expected to report per-share earnings of $1.02, on revenue of around $32.94 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

“Verizon Wireless posted another quarter of quality connections growth — even better than in the second quarter — while maintaining high customer loyalty and profitability,” CEO Lowell McAdam said in a statement.

Verizon

However, investors are likely to be most focused on what the company sees further ahead. Verizon warned at an investor conference last month that it expects competitive pressure to keep next year’s earnings relatively similar to 2015 levels.

The company, like AT&T, has been getting a short-term accounting boost from a shift in the way customers pay for phones as the companies change over from subsidizing phones to selling them at full price, with most customers paying in installments.

Verizon said that 58 percent of last quarter’s new phone activations were for phones bought on installments, with more than a fifth of its core customer base on such plans. The company said for the fourth quarter it expects seven in 10 customers will buy a phone on an installment plan.

On the wired side of the business, Verizon said it added 114,000 net subscribers to its Fios Internet service and 42,000 Fios video service subscribers.

Following the earnings announcement, shares of Verizon rose modestly in pre-market trading, changing hands at $45.40, up 90 cents, or about 2 percent.

Verizon

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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