Workflow
U.S. Cellular's Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Decline Y/Y
U.S. CellularU.S. Cellular(US:USM) ZACKSยท2025-05-05 14:30

Financial Performance - U.S. Cellular Corporation reported a net income of $18 million or 21 cents per share, compared to $18 million or 20 cents in the prior-year quarter, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 16 cents [2] - The company generated $891 million in operating revenues, down from $950 million in the prior-year quarter, also missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $925 million [2] - Service revenues decreased to $741 million from $754 million, while equipment sales fell to $150 million from $196 million in the prior-year quarter [3] Customer Metrics - Fixed wireless customers grew by 21% year over year to 150,000, while total postpaid connections declined to 3,946,000 from 4,051,000 in the year-earlier quarter [3][4] - Handset connections increased to 68,000 from 63,000 in the prior-year quarter, with a churn rate of 1.03%, unchanged from the previous year [4] - Prepaid connections decreased to 431,000 from 436,000 in the year-ago quarter, with a prepaid churn rate increasing to 4.17% from 4.06% [4][5] Revenue Metrics - Postpaid average revenues per account improved to $132.25 from $132 in the year-ago quarter, while postpaid ARPU rose to $52.06 from $51.96 [5] - Prepaid ARPU decreased to $30.76 from $32.25 in the prior-year quarter [5] Operational Efficiency - Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $254 million, down from $272 million in the prior-year quarter, while adjusted OIBDA decreased to $215 million from $228 million [6] - Total operating expenses were $850 million, down 5% year over year, with operating income reported at $41 million compared to $51 million in the prior-year quarter [6] Cash Flow and Liquidity - U.S. Cellular generated $160 million of cash from operating activities, down from $203 million in the year-ago quarter [7] - As of March 31, 2025, the company had $182 million in cash and cash equivalents and $2.82 billion in long-term debt [7]