The well-known US telecom operator Verizon’s quarterly results announced on Wednesday exceeded analysts’ expectations, mainly due to higher demand for 5G-related services and terminal equipment. This operator has achieved user growth at a faster rate.
The financial report shows that Verizon added 275,000 post-paid mobile users in the second quarter of 2021, higher than the 174,800 predicted by FactSet. The reopening of its stores also promoted the growth of the number of users.
Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research, said: 5G sales obviously account for more than 50% of total sales. In the second half of this year, US operators will continue to promote the upgrade of basic packages to unlimited 5G service packages.
According to Refinitiv’s IBES data, Verizon’s total operating income in the second quarter of this year increased by 10.9% to 33.8 billion U.S. dollars, higher than the previously expected 32.74 billion U.S. dollars. Verizon’s capital expenditure in the first half of this year was approximately US$8.7 billion, including more than US$160 million in capital expenditures related to the 5G C-band. The company still expects that the capital expenditure on the C-band in 2021 will be between US$2 and US$3 billion.
Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said in a statement that Verizon had a strong financial and operational performance in the first half of the year, and now expects the company’s full-year wireless service revenue to grow 3.5%-4% in 2021, higher than the previous 3% performance guidance. The company also raised its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) forecast for 2021, from US$5.25 to US$5.35.
