Verizon Raises FY Profit View

(RTTNews) - Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) raised its fiscal year 2021 adjusted earnings per share outlook to range of $5.25 to $5.35, from prior guidance of $5.00 to $5.15. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to report earnings of $5.12 per share for fiscal year 2021. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company now expects total wireless service revenue growth of 3.5 percent to 4 percent, an update from prior guidance for 2021 total wireless service revenue growth of at least 3 percent.

Service and other revenue for 2021 is no longer comparable year over year as the company's planning assumption now includes the closing of the Verizon Media transaction at the end of third-quarter 2021. For this reason, the company is withdrawing its service and other revenue growth guidance at this time, Verizon said in a statement.

For 2021, the company expects Capital spending to be in the range of $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion, including the further expansion of 5G mmWave in new and existing markets, the densification of the 4G LTE wireless network to manage future traffic demands and the continued deployment of the company's fiber infrastructure.

Expenditures related to the deployment of the company's C-Band 5G network will be in addition to the amount, and the company previously announced an incremental $10 billion of capital expenditures from 2021 to 2023, of which $2 billion to $3 billion is expected in 2021.