Verizon Tops Analysts' Estimates; Shares Rise

Verizon shares traded higher in pre-market trading Friday after the company posted earnings that were ahead of analysts' estimates.

Verizon
Don Ryan
Verizon

The company said it posted a net loss of 7 cents per share in the latest period. The net loss included 65 cents a share in adjustments tied to work-force reductions.

The adjusted earnings of 58 cents a share compares with adjusted earnings of 52 cents a share in the year-ago period.

Sales for the most recent quarter reached $26.77 billion, down from $26.86 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts who follow the company projected Verizon to earn 56 cents a share on revenue of $27.11 billion.

Shares of Verizon rose slightly in pre-market trading Friday. Get real-time quotes for Verizon here.

"Verizon showed solid improvement in operational results in the quarter" said CEO Ivan Seidenberg, in a prepared statement. "In addition, the wireline spinoff to Frontier on July 1 improves our future growth profile."

On Thursday, rival AT&T posted a better-than-expected profitparticularly in its wireline business and said it was more optimistic on growth prospects for 2010.