Verizon Shares Dip Following Mixed Q3 Results

Shares of the biggest telecom service provider, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, dropped in pre-market trading following mixed results in the third quarter. While adjusted earnings came in above estimates, revenue missed.

The telecom service firm reported net income of $3.75 billion, or $0.89 a share, on revenue of $30.94 billion. On a Non-GAAP basis, its earnings would have been $1.01 thus beating the estimates of $0.99 a share while missing revenue expectations of $31.09 billion.

In the previous year quarter, Verizon earned a profit of $4.17 billion, or $0.99 a share, on revenue of $33.16 billion.

The company added 442,000 retail postpaid net additions that included 357,000 new 4G LTE smartphones. In the wireline segment, the company added 90,000 Fios Internet net additions and 36,000 Fios Video net additions.

Chairman and CEO, Lowell McAdam, commented, "While we transform our company in a challenging environment, we have maintained the financial flexibility to invest in our industry-leading networks to better serve customers, add scale to bring innovation to the mobile media and Internet of Things (IoT) markets, and increase dividends for a 10th consecutive year."

Moving ahead, Verizon expects 2016 adjusted EPS to be similar to that of 2015 and sees consolidated capital at the low end of $17.2-$17.7 billion range. The EPS forecast excluded $0.07 a share impact from work stoppage. While the company delivered EPS of $3.99 in 2015, Street analysts are looking for an EPS of $3.89.

Following the results, Verizon traded at $48.99, down 2.76 percent, in pre-market trading.