Verizon Shares Slump Despite Earnings Beat

Shares of Verizon Communications fell more than 2% in premarket trade after the company reported third-quarter declines in both earnings and revenue. The wireless provider reported net income of $3.6 billion, or 89 cents a share, down from $4.2 billion, or 99 cents, in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, Verizon reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.01, topping the FactSet consensus view of 99 cents. Revenue for the three-month period ended September 30 was $30.9 billion, down 6.7% from $33.1 billion a year ago and slightly ahead of analyst expectations of $30.5 billion. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said the company faced a "challenging environment" during the quarter. The company reported 442,000 retail postpaid net additions, which excludes wholesale devices, and whole IoT connection. The FactSet consensus for Verizon's wireless postpaid net adds was 773,000. Shares of Verizon slipped 2.2% to $49.25 ahead of the market open. They've declined by 9.4% in the past three months, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average , down 2.1%.