U.S. telecommunications giant Verizon (VZ) has issued first-quarter financial results that beat the consensus forecasts on Wall Street and maintained its full-year guidance.
The New York City-based provider of wireless internet service reported Q1 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.19 U.S., which was ahead of the $1.15 U.S. expected among analysts.
Revenue in the January through March quarter totaled $33.5 billion U.S., which was narrowly ahead of the $33.3 billion U.S. forecast on Wall Street. Sales were up 1.5% from a year earlier.
Verizon also reiterated its 2025 guidance that calls for earnings growth of 0% to 3%.
Management said the outlook “does not reflect any assumptions regarding the potential impacts of the evolving tariff environment.”
Despite the positive results and outlook, Verizon’s stock is down nearly 5% after the company reported that more customers than expected canceled their phone contracts during the quarter amid worries about rising inflation.
The company said it experienced 289,000 postpaid phone net losses during the first quarter, more than the 197,000 that analysts were expecting.
Verizon said that it is seeing customers switch to cheaper phone plans as they worry about inflation and a slowing U.S. economy.
Apart from the customer cancelations, Verizon said that its wireless service revenue rose 2.7% in Q1 from a year ago to $20.8 billion U.S.
Wireless equipment revenue was up 0.7% in the quarter from a year ago to $5.4 billion U.S.
Free cash flow, which is key to Verizon’s hefty dividend, rose to $3.6 billion U.S. for the quarter from $2.7 billion U.S. in the same period of 2024.
Prior to today (April 22), the stock of Verizon had risen 7% this year to trade at $42.93 U.S. per share.
Verizon’s stock has been rising in an otherwise down market because the company doesn’t rely on imports or exports and is largely immune to tariffs.
Additionally, Verizon pays a quarterly dividend that yields 6.31%, which is attracting investors in a volatile market.