CNA reported that Verizon signed an AI infrastructure agreement worth more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services on 26 October and raised its annual postpaid phone subscriber forecast to 1.1 million to 1.2 million, from 750,000 to 1 million.
Verizon also lifted its full-year adjusted earnings per share forecast to $5.04 to $5.06, from $4.99 to $5.04. It added 406,000 postpaid wireless subscribers in the third quarter, against Visible Alpha expectations of 209,439.
Third-quarter revenue was $34.3 billion, below the $34.74 billion analyst estimate in LSEG data. Fewer customers upgraded their phones after Verizon reduced device subsidies, putting pressure on revenue. The company introduced its Simplicity plan, with unlimited data and transparent pricing, in June.
Under the AWS agreement, Verizon will provide high-capacity fibre-optic connectivity for AWS data centres to support AI computing workloads. Verizon announced a more than $1 billion agreement with Google in July to connect data centres using dark fibre.
