UPDATE: Windstream Shares Fall On Earnings Miss

Shares of Windstream Holdings

dropped more than 4.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. The Little Rock, Arkansas-based company reported quarterly net income of $8 million, or $0.01 per share. Excluding certain items, the company earned $0.03 per share. Its revenue dropped 2.9% to $1.46 billion in the period. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.04 per share on revenue of $1.47 billion. Enterprise and small business service revenue rose slightly to $752 million, while data and integrated services revenue gained 4% to $423 million. Data center and managed services revenue jumped 21% to $32 million. Enterprise customer locations increased 3.6% y/y, while average revenue per business customer gained 10%. Carrier revenue fell 10% to $151 million, while consumer broadband service revenue rose 1.4% to $121 million. Overall consumer service revenue fell 0.3% y/y to $321 million in the quarter, while wholesale revenue slipped 11% to $132 million. Windstream affirmed its financial guidance for 2014. "Enterprise and small-business revenues grew sequentially and year-over-year, driven by solid enterprise sales. Our consumer channel also delivered another strong quarter," said Jeff Gardner, president and CEO. "Windstream's cash flow generation remains strong, and we expect to achieve our financial targets for 2014." Windstream shares fell 4.77% to $9.99 in pre-market trading.