Verizon Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings (VZ)

Verizon Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

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Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ ) reported earnings on Jan. 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Verizon Communications met expectations on revenues and missed slightly on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and earnings per share dropped to a loss.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Verizon Communications reported revenue of $28.4 billion. The 27 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ hoped for revenue of $28.4 billion. Sales were 7.7% higher than the prior-year quarter's $26.4 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.52. The 32 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ averaged $0.53 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$0.71 for Q4 against $0.51 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 57.5%, 300 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -3.9%, 2,150 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -7.1%, 1,260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $28.3 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.60.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $115.3 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.52.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,586 members out of 4,865 rating the stock outperform, and 279 members rating it underperform. Among 1,081 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,035 give Verizon Communications a green thumbs-up, and 46 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Verizon is outperform, with an average price target of $39.16.

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Seth Jayson owned shares of the following at the time of publication: Verizon Communications. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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