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Verizon on Thursday posted slightly stronger than expected revenue and earnings and an addition of 1.5 million customers last quarter.
The communications giant said that it earned $5.5 billion, or $1.32 per share, on revenue of $34.2 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31.
Adjusted for various items, including changes to the value of its pension plans, the company reported adjusted per-share earnings of 89 cents, a penny ahead of Wall Street estimates, according to Zacks. Revenue was also narrowly ahead of consensus estimates.
CEO Lowell McAdam said the results showed that the company can turn a profit and give back money to shareholders even in a highly competitive market. Last year, it completed acquisitions of AOL and Millennial Media and launched its Go90 video service.
“Verizon embraced transformational change in 2015, and in 2016 the company has a huge opportunity to drive a new era of growth in our industry,” McAdam said in a statement.
That said, it continues to face fierce competition from both T-Mobile and Sprint, which are cutting prices in a bid to gain share from market leaders AT&T and Verizon.
Verizon shares were trading slightly higher in pre-market trading, changing hands recently at $44.75, up 33 cents or less than 1 percent.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
