Verizon Communications Inc. saw a 3% increase in shares in premarket trading on Tuesday, with the telecommunications company displaying strength in its consumer wireless business during the latest quarter.
Financial Performance
In the fourth quarter, Verizon reported a net loss of $2.6 billion (or 64 cents a share), compared to $6.7 billion (or $1.56 a share) in the same quarter the previous year. This includes a noncash goodwill impairment charge of $5.8 billion for the fourth quarter, which was disclosed by Verizon earlier. The charge followed a five-year planning review, resulting in revised lower projections for the company's business wireline segment than anticipated.
On an adjusted basis, Verizon's earnings were $1.08 per share, aligning with analysts' estimates tracked by FactSet.
Revenue for the quarter amounted to $35.1 billion, slightly lower than the $35.3 billion reported a year ago. The FactSet consensus had predicted revenue of $34.6 billion.
Impressive Consumer Wireless Growth
During the fourth quarter, Verizon experienced remarkable growth in its consumer wireless retail postpaid phone net additions. The company added 318,000 customers, a significant increase from the 41,000 additions in the same period the previous year. In fact, Verizon exceeded analysts' expectations for this metric, with TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams projecting only 110,000 postpaid phone net additions within the consumer business for the quarter.
Quarterly gross consumer postpaid phone additions also soared by 16.9% from the previous year, marking the best performance in four years.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead to the full year, Verizon anticipates a 2% to 2.5% growth in total wireless service revenue for 2024. Additionally, the company expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to increase by 1% to 3%.
Verizon's strong performance in consumer wireless and its optimistic outlook point towards a positive trajectory for the company in the coming years.
