What happened
Shares of Frontier Communications (FTR) took a big hit Wednesday, falling as much as 27.7%. As of 12:31 p.m. EDT, the stock was down 25.6%.
The stock's slide follows Frontier's first-quarter results, which included a worse-than-expected loss per share.
So what
Frontier reported first-quarter revenue of $2.1 billion, down from revenue of $2.2 billion in the year-ago quarter. In addition, Frontier lost $87 million, or $0.84 per share. But management noted this loss included $15 million of severance expenses, $20 million for loss on early extinguishable debt, and $18 million of income tax expense. The company's non-GAAP loss per share was $0.18, narrower than a loss of $0.58 in the year-ago quarter but worse than analysts' average forecast (via Barron's) for a loss of $0.10 per share.
Now what
Frontier said its transformation program "remains on track," and management maintained its full-year outlook. Frontier forecasts full-year adjusted EBITDA between $3.45 billion and $3.55 billion, capital expenditures of about $1.15 billion, and operating free cash flow between $575 million and $675 million.