Verizon Communications Inc. topped earnings and revenue expectations Wednesday while detailing how its recent commitments for wireless spectrum will impact its financials.
The company reported first-quarter net income of $5.4 billion, or $1.27 a share, up from $4.3 billion, or $1.00 a share, a year earlier.
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Total revenue for Verizon’s first quarter rose to $32.9 billion from $31.6 billion a year earlier, whereas analysts were expecting $32.5 billion.
Shares are off 0.7% in premarket trading.
In Verizon’s consumer business, the company saw 326,000 retail postpaid net losses and 225,000 phone net losses. Verizon’s total retail postpaid churn was 0.97%, while retail postpaid phone churn was 0.77%.
The company disclosed in its release that consumer wireless service revenue came in at $13.7 billion, up 1.5% from a year earlier, “driven by the continued adoption of wireless unlimited and premium unlimited plans.”
Verizon’s first-quarter capital expenditures amounted to $4.5 billion, including $40 million of items related to C-Band wireless spectrum.
The company paid about $45 billion to the Federal Communications Commission during the quarter for spectrum that Verizon acquired through a recent auction for frequencies that will be used to build out the company’s 5G network. The company raised $12 billion in the fourth quarter to help finance these purchases and then raised $31 billion more in March 2021.
For 2021, Verizon continues to expect service and other revenue growth of at least 2% and adjusted earnings per share of $5.00 to $5.15. The company projects $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion in capital spending, which is consistent with its projection as of its prior earnings report, though Verizon added this time that “expenditures related to the deployment of the company’s C-Band 5G network will be in addition to this amount, and are expected to be approximately $10 billion over three years, with $2 billion to $3 billion expected in 2021.”
Verizon shares have gained 2% over the past three months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
