Earnings Preview: Verizon stock has lagged in 3Q

posted: 32 DAYS 22 HOURS AGO

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NEW YORK -Verizon Communications Inc. is scheduled to report third-quarter results Monday morning. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.

OVERVIEW: Verizon, the country's second-largest telecommunications company and largest wireless carrier, was left behind by the summer's bull market.

Verizon is fighting the same headwinds as other phone companies: households are giving up landlines. In some cases they're opting for service for cable companies, but to a large extent they're simply relying on their cell phones.

Of course, Verizon benefits from the growth of the wireless industry, but not as much as it would like to. The New York-based company owns only 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, meaning it doesn't get to keep all of the profits. Vodafone Group PLC of Britain owns the rest.

Also, while consumer sales are steady, Verizon warned in September that continued economic weakness is affecting sales of business services. A large number of unemployed means fewer lines to offices.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Verizon to post earnings, excluding items, of 59 cents per share on $27.2 billion in revenue. In the same quarter last year, it earned 59 cents per share on $24.7 billion in revenue. The acquisition of Alltel accounts for much of the projected sales increase.

Verizon's dividend yield is 6.5 percent, which helps prop up the stock.

ANALYST TAKE: Friedman Billings Ramsey analyst David Dixon said he expected Verizon Wireless to add a net 1.15 million subscribers, but he made that prediction before AT&T Inc. on Thursday reported adding 2 million, well above expectations. AT&T's iPhone continues to pull subscribers from other carriers.

UBS analyst John Hodulik downgraded Verizon to "Neutral" from "Buy" because of the impact of the weak economy on the business segment. In addition, he cited the effect of competition from the iPhone at the high end of the wireless market and aggressive price competition from the smaller carriers.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Verizon Wireless just launched an aggressive ad campaign for the Droid, a new phone from Motorola Inc. that runs Google Inc.'s software. The ad compares the Droid to the iPhone and represents another attempt by a U.S. carrier to introduce a "smart" phone that's competitive with the iPhone. So far, no phone has come close to threatening the iPhone's popularity.

Verizon has also announced a close collaboration with Google to develop more phones and devices that use Android, Google's software. It's a highly unusual move for Verizon, and reflects the carrier's realization that it can't sit back and wait for manufacturers to come up with a proper iPhone competitor.

Verizon is selling its local-phone operations in 13 states to Frontier Communications Corp. to focus on more densely populated areas.

STOCK PERFORMANCE: Verizon's stock fell 2.7 percent during the quarter, compared to a 15 percent rise in the S&P 500.

2009-10-23 08:22:33