Verizon Q1 Is Almost In Line; Wireless, FIOS Strong

Verizon (VZ) shares are higher this morning after the company reported first quarter results nearly in line with Street expectations.

For the quarter, the company had revenue of $23.8 billion and EPS from continuing operations of 61 cents; the Street had expected $23.86 billion and 62 cents.

Verizon added 1.5 million net customers in its wireless business, increasing the total to 67.2 million. Churn was just 1.19%, or 0.93% for post-paid customers.

The company added 263,000 net new FiOS TV customers, increasing the total to 1.2 million.

In a note repeating his Buy rating on the stock, S&P telecom analyst Todd Rosenbluth noted that the slightly weaker than expected profits reflects higher taxes and lower non-operating income.

Craig Moffett, of Bernstein Research, notes that while wireless was better than expected - the business is “firing on all cylinder,” he says - wireline is struggling with a worse-than-expected 11% drop in access lines in the quarter. Moffett, who describes conditions in that business as “dire,” says customers gave up 2.9 million access lines in the quarter.