Why Verizon Communications Inc. Stock Jumped Today

Shares of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) popped on Thursday morning, trading 6.5% higher as of 11:15 a.m. EDT. The fuel for this fire came from Verizon's second-quarter earnings report, which it posted before the opening bell.

Verizon's revenue held flat year over year at $35.6 billion, while adjusted earnings per share rose from $0.94 to $0.96. The bottom-line result landed right where with Wall Street had expected it to, but the sales result was a modestly positive surprise.

More importantly, Verizon added 590,000 net new subscribers in the all-important postpaid smartphones category. Retail postpaid phone churn landed below 0.9% per month for the ninth consecutive quarter, setting an all-time low in the LTE era at 0.7%. Low churn equals loyal customers, so that's great news for Verizon and its investors.

Source: Fool.com