US carrier Verizon narrowly missed analyst revenue projections for Q2.
Verizon reported income of $32.8 billion for the quarter, which was up 0.6 percent year-on-year.
However, the telco fell short of analyst projections for $33.05bn, due to a decline in wireless equipment revenue, noting that consumers are keeping their phones for longer.
The company's share price dropped as much as 7.5 percent, to $39.21, after the results were announced yesterday.
Despite this, Verizon said it was performing in-line with expectations and that it is on track to achieve its full-year 2024 financial guidance.
"Our improving operations and results build on our first quarter momentum, keep us on track to meet our 2024 financial guidance, and are paving the way for sustained growth. Our progress comes from innovation that deeply resonates with customers, including the most personalized offerings in the industry," said Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon.
Verizon posted a consolidated net income of $4.7 billion for the second quarter, down from $4.8 billion YoY.
It reported an increase in its total wireless service revenue during the quarter of $19.8 billion, a sequential increase of more than $250 million, and an increase of 3.5 percent year-on-year.
The carrier continued to increase its broadband subscription base, with 391,000 net additions, the company's eighth consecutive quarter with more than 375,000 broadband net additions.
In total, Verizon now has 11.5 million broadband subscribers, up 17.2 percent from 2023.
The operator did note that it lost 8,000 wireless retail postpaid phone during the quarter, but this number is significantly down on the 136,000 wireless retail postpaid phone net losses for the same quarter of last year.
On the topic of a potential sale of its tower assets, amid reports last week, Vestberg declined to comment.
Opportunities to push Edge and AI
However, Vestberg was confident that Edge computing, along with AI, will help Verizon to deliver future opportunities for its customers.
“Our portfolio of high-performance spectrum, the capacity of our fiber and our ability to deploy and support mobile Edge compute, make us the backbone of the AI economy and the partner of choice for players in the space," he said on the company's earnings call.
He claims that because of this, Verizon will be able to "power the best AI services for our customers," due to its mobile Edge computing capabilities and deep fiber footprint.
"By processing data closer to the source, we enable real-time AI applications that require security, ultra-low latency, and high bandwidth. This is where our network shines, opening up possibilities that simply weren't feasible before.”
Last year, Verizon deployed a 5G private multi-Edge computing trailer at Lockheed Martin's campus in Waterton, Colorado. Called the Mobile Onsite Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), the solution delivers a private network, private mobile Edge compute (MEC), SD-Wan, and satellite connectivity to customer locations.
Earlier this year, the carrier used 5G and Edge technology to edit live TV production for a National Hockey League (NHL) match.
