General Motors and Verizon released their latest quarterly earnings reports before opening bell this morning. GM posted adjusted earnings of $1.26 per share and revenue of $37.3 billion, handily beating the consensus numbers of 99 cents per share and $34.8 billion.
Verizon posted earnings of $1.06 per share, which was in line with the consensus, on $32.2 billion, which was slightly behind the consensus estimate of $32.4 billion and represented a year over year increase of 0.6%. Excluding AOL, which wasn’t part of Verizon last year, revenue fell 1.5% to $22 billion. AOL recorded its highest first quarter revenues in five years under Verizon’s ownership, the company said.
General Motors shares up on results
GM’s reported earnings surged from 56 cents per share last year to $1.24 per share in this year’s first quarter. General Motors’ North America division recorded $2.3 billion in adjusted EBIT, a new record which includes $200 million in restructuring costs and compares to last year’s $2.2 billion. GM Europe’s adjusted EBIT was breakeven, compared with last year’s loss of $200 million. The International Operations segment recorded $400 million in adjusted EBIT, which was flat with last year, while GM South America’s adjusted EBIT was -$100 million, still an improvement from last year’s -$200 million. GM Financial’s earnings per tax was flat with last year at $200 million.
General Motors shares surged 3.57% to $33.35 in premarket trades following this morning’s earnings results.
Verizon shares down on results
Verizon added 640,000 retail postpaid wireless customers and recorded a postpaid churn rate of 0.96%. The company saw phone activations on installment plans increased to 68% year over year in the first quarter, a slight improvement from the 67% recorded in the previous quarter. The mobile carrier ended the first quarter with 73.8 million smartphones on its network, representing 85% of the total installed base. 4G devices accounted for more than 81% of retail postpaid connections.
The company’s Fios segment saw a 5% increase in revenue, and Verizon added 98,000 Fios Internet and 36,000 Fios video subscribers during the quarter. Internet of Things revenues grew 25% to $195 million, while EBITDA of $12 billion was flat with last year.
Verizon management still expects full-year adjusted earnings to be flat with last year but warned that labor contract negotiations could pressure that target.
Verizon shares declined 1.47% to $50.98 in premarket trading this morning.
