Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) showed the world its earnings for the third quarter of 2013 this morning before the market opened on Wall Street. The company showed earnings per share of 78 cents. Revenue for the period came in at $30.3 billion. Verizon’s acquisition of the half of Verizon Wireless held by Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) (LON:VOD) had a huge impact this quarter.
In the run up to the release of this earnings report analysts studying Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) were expecting the company to earn 74 cents per share in the third quarter. Revenue in the three months period was expected to come to $30.2 billion. The same three months of 2012 saw the wireless carrier earn 64 cents per share on revenue totaling $29 billion.
Verizon earnings
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) managed to beat analyst expectations with this morning’s earnings report, and the company expects some of the trends that led to that beat to continue. Verizon saw a large amount of growth in service revenue and smartphone penetration, while at the same time seeing more customers opt for its “Share Everything” option.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is growing, and the addition of revenue from the Vodafone Group Plc (NASDAQ:VOD) (LON:VOD) deal indicates that it may well continue to do so. The firm’s shareholders, however, may not be as happy with the firm’s performance.
Verizon performance
After the announcement of this earnings report shares in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) rose by more than 2% in pre-market trading. Shares in the company have languished since the start of the year, rising by just over 9% while the S&P 500 managed to add around 20% to its value.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) may have underperformed so far this year, but that’s probably because of the mass growth already baked into the share price. The firm is trading at 87 times earnings, a number suggesting great expectations in the years to come.
