Verizon drops into the red after second-quarter numbers

21st Jul 2015 14:36

(ShareCast News) - Shares in Verizon fell after the company posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings per share but missed on revenue.The wireless carrier posted EPS of $1.04, which was ahead of analysts' forecast of $1.01, but revenue came in a little lower at $32.2bn, up 2.4% from the same period last year.The company said it had 1.1m new monthly subscribers in the second quarter, which was nearly twice the additions in the first quarter and a touch more than expected.Tablets made up a large part of the growth, with net additions totalling 852,000 in the quarter. Postpaid phone net addition totalled 321,000 as net smartphone adds of 588,000 were partially offset by a net decline of 266,000 basic phones.Chairman and chief executive officer, Lowell McAdam, said: "Verizon has delivered another quarter of strong financial and operational results, based on consistent network reliability and superior value that continues to attract new customers.""In the second quarter, we again balanced quality Verizon Wireless connections growth with low churn and profitability, and we announced and completed our acquisition of AOL. We're now poised to offer customers exciting new over-the-top (OTT) mobile video services, and we look forward to a very positive second half of 2015."At 14:56, shares were down 1.8% at $46.86.