Headline Summary: Verizon shares finished up 1.9% after Q1 earnings, reflecting a neutral market response as operational improvements were met by mixed service revenue trends and measured guidance commentary. Investors appeared to weigh improved churn and postpaid phone net adds against below-guided mobility and broadband service revenue growth and impacts from a January network outage. Key Takeaways:
- Total revenue grew 2.9% to $34.4 billion for the quarter.
- Mobility and broadband service revenue growth came in below the company’s annual guided range, partially due to an 80 basis point headwind from January’s network outage.
- Postpaid phone net adds were 55,000, marking Verizon’s first Q1 with positive postpaid phone growth in 13 years; overall mobility and broadband net adds totaled nearly 0.5 million.
- Consumer postpaid phone churn improved both sequentially and within the quarter, declining to below 85 basis points in March.
- Adjusted EPS rose 7.6% year-over-year to $1.28, and free cash flow increased 4% to $3.8 billion.
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