Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) on Tuesday reported a loss for the fourth quarter, hurt by a hefty pension-related charge. Adjusted earnings missed Wall Street view, reflecting lower wireless margins.
CEO Lowell McAdam said, "Verizon Wireless produced particularly strong growth in the fourth quarter. While that diluted wireless margins in the short term, it is good news for revenue and margin growth over the long term, particularly given our leadership in the rapidly developing 4G LTE ecosystem."
Verizon reported a net loss attributable to the company of $2.02 billion or $0.71 per share, compared to a profit of $2.64 billion or $$0.93 per share last year. In the preceding third quarter, net income attributable to Verizon was $1.38 billion or $0.49 per share.
Excluding $1.20 per share charge due to the actuarial valuation of Verizon's benefit plans and $0.03 per share charge for the early extinguishment of debt, earnings were $0.52 per share. In the prior year, adjusted earnings were $0.54 per share. On average, 32 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.53 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Operating revenues grew 7.7 percent to $28.44 billion from $26.4 billion in the prior year and $27.91 billion in the prior quarter, fueled by continued strong demand for Verizon Wireless services and handsets, FiOS fiber-optic services, and strategic business products and services. Wall Street expected revenues of $28.39 billion. Wireless revenues grew 13 percent to $18.3 billion, driven by increased smartphone penetration and increased retail postpaid ARPU (average monthly service revenue per user). The segment saw a 19.2 percent increase in data revenues to $6.3 billion. Retail net additions totaled 1.5 million, including 1.2 million retail postpaid net customer additions.
Retail service ARPU grew 2.6 percent from last year to $53.14, while retail postpaid data ARPU increased 14.3 percent to $22.76. Retail postpaid ARPU grew 2.5 percent to $54.80. Total retail churn improved 14 basis points to 1.23 percent.
Meanwhile, operating margin in the wireless business dropped to 23.7 percent from last year's 30.1 percent.
In the Wireline business, revenue dropped 1.5 percent to $10.1 billion. 201,000 FiOS Internet and 194,000 FiOS Video net additions were made, with increased sales penetration for both products. Broadband connections saw a net increase of 98,000 from the previous quarter.
Wireline operating margin improved to 3 percent from 2.5 percent a year earlier. "Wireline margins recovered from third-quarter pressures, and we expect wireline margin expansion in 2012," McAdam added.
VZ closed on Monday at $38.40, compared to the previous close of $38.97, on 19.14 million shares.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.