Verizon reports strong first quarter numbers

The nations' largest cellular company, Verizon Wireless, reported good numbers for the first quarter continuing the momentum for wireless carriers in general. Big Red saw the number of customers using its cell network increase by 28.8% over the three months to 86.6 million, which includes a net addition of 13.2 million customers from the acquisition of Alltel. Excluding the purchase, Verizon Wireless added 1.3 million net retail customers for a total of 84.1 million at the retail level. Verizon reported the industry's lowest churn rate at 1.14% and many of the company's customers were using their cellphone to surf the web, text and send emails as data revenue rose 56.2% during the period.

Thanks to the strength in wireless, Verizon reported a total profit of 58 cents per share in the first quarter, a figure that includes Big Red's wireline businesses. That was an increase from the 57 cents per share reported last year. Revenue grew 11.6% year over year to $26.6 billion and cash flow soared 20% from the 2008 quarter to $6.4 million dollars. Is that Scrooge McDuck taking a flying leap into that cash pile in Verizon's vaults?

source: Verizon