How did the wireless industry perform in the second quarter of 2018?
Check here throughout the earnings season for full earnings reports from the wireless industry's biggest public carriers, handset makers, equipment suppliers and others.
And don't forget to check out our wrap-up pages for the first quarter of 2018 and the fourth quarter and third quarter of 2017.
July 17
América Móvil (TracFone)
MVNO Straight Talk gained almost half a million customers during the past year, and is now nearing the 9-million-customer mark. But much of the rest of America Movil’s U.S. business remains sluggish.
The company reported 22.1 million subscribers at end of June, 8.2% below the prior year with net disconnections of 635,000 slightly lower than in 2017. Its main brand, StraightTalk, posted a 5.8% increase in subscribers from the year-earlier quarter.
- see our coverage
July 18
Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC)
Ericsson reported that it has made progress in its effort to regain its financial footing—and that North American network operators are playing a major role in that effort. The company reported a 1% year-over-year decline in overall net sales for the second quarter and a widening net loss, but the company’s operating income turned positive for the first time since 2016.
- see our coverage
Crown Castle (NYSE: CCI)
Crown Castle site rental revenues grew about 35%, or $300 million, from second quarter 2017 to second quarter 2018. Net income for the second quarter of 2018 was $180 million compared with $112 million during the same period a year ago.
- see Crown Castle’s earnings report
July 24
Verizon (NYSE: VZ)
Verizon in the second quarter said it gained 531,000 new retail postpaid net customer additions, a figure that comprised 199,000 net phone customer additions, 37,000 tablet customer losses, and 369,000 other connected devices additions, primarily wearables. The company said that its postpaid smartphone net additions for the quarter were 398,000.
- see our coverage here and here
- see Verizon’s earnings release
AT&T (NYSE: T)
AT&T’s subscriber metrics were slightly better than expected. Overall AT&T reported 3.8 million total wireless net adds in the United States and Latin America, with 3.1 million total wireless net customer additions in the United States driven by connected devices and prepaid services. In the United States specifically, AT&T reported 46,000 postpaid phone net customer additions (slightly below most expectations) alongside a surprise 356,000 phone net adds in prepaid (AT&T’s prepaid performance was far beyond most analyst expectations).
- see our coverage here and here
- see AT&T’s earnings release
July 25
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM)
Qualcomm announced it would walk away from its long-stalled deal to purchase NXP and will therefore pay a $2 billion breakup fee and start a $30 billion stock-buyback program. Separately, the company announced that Apple won’t use its modem chips in the next iPhone, a statement that likely reflects Apple’s decision to fully replace Qualcomm’s silicon with Intel’s chips in its forthcoming iPhones.
- see our coverage here
- see Qualcomm’s earnings release
July 26
Nokia (NYSE: NOK)
Nokia reported second-quarter financial results below most Wall Street expectations, but the company’s CEO promised that the equipment vendor would enjoy a stronger second half of 2018 thanks in part to growing sales of 5G gear. Overall Nokia reported that its operating profit in the second quarter dropped 42% from a year ago.
- see our coverage here
- see Nokia’s report
July 31
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)
Apple posted quarterly revenue of $53.3 billion, an increase of 17% from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.34, up 40%. International sales accounted for 60% of the quarter’s revenue.
- see Apple's earnings release
Samsung
Samsung said second quarter revenue fell due to softer sales of smartphones and display panels, despite robust demand for memory chips. Net profit was little changed from a year earlier due to higher income tax.
- see Samsung's earnings release
Aug. 1
Sprint (NYSE: S)
Sprint reported growth in wireless service revenue—its first such growth sequentially in more than four years—alongside slight gains in prepaid and postpaid customers. But the company also offered some insights into the new digital strategies it’s using to further reduce expenses and boost results.
- see our coverage
- see Sprint's earnings release
T-Mobile (Nasdaq: TMUS)
T-Mobile reported branded postpaid phone net customer additions of 686,000 during the quarter—a figure higher than most analyst expectations and well beyond what T-Mobile’s rivals reported during the second quarter. T-Mobile also reported the addition of 331,000 other devices in the quarter, which the company primarily attributed to sales of the Apple Watch.
- see our coverage
- see T-Mobile's earnings release
Aug. 3
U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM)
US Cellular reported total operating revenues of $974 million for the second quarter of 2018, versus $963 million for the same period one year ago. Net income attributable to shareholders and related diluted earnings per share were $49 million and 56 cents, respectively.
- see US Cellular's release
Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH)
Dish’s Charlie Ergen said that the FCC should support his company’s efforts to build out a 5G wireless network because it would aid the United States’ technological position on the global stage. Ergen’s comments during Dish’s quarterly earnings conference call came in response to questions about an FCC inquiry into Dish’s spectrum buildout efforts, a move that many industry observers believe may signal the agency’s concern that Dish is hoarding spectrum licenses without a clear plan to put them into commercial use.
- see our coverage
- see Dish's earnings release