Verizon’s Q3 Surprise: Earnings Beat, Subscriber Surge & Bold 5G Moves Under New CEO
Verizon’s third-quarter results delivered a mixed bag, topping profit expectations while coming in just shy on revenue. Adjusted earnings of $1.21 per share beat consensus by $0.02 seattlepi.com, even as revenue of $33.8 billion was a tad below the ~$34.2 billion anticipated seattlepi.com investing.com. This marks a return to bottom-line outperformance for the telecom giant, which had missed revenue targets in several recent quarters. Cost controls and stable wireless service margins likely aided the EPS beat. Verizon also reaffirmed its full-year outlook, maintaining guidance for earnings and roughly $19.5–20.5 billion in free cash flow ts2.tech reuters.com, while noting capital spending will be within or even below its $17.5–18.5 billion plan reuters.com. Keeping capex in check is a positive sign to investors that big 5G network builds are winding down to more efficient levels.