Verizon Quarter in Line

Verizon (VZ Quote) posted first-quarter results that matched Wall Street's targets, as the company's wireless business continued to add users at a rapid clip.

The New York telco made $1.5 billion, or 51 cents a share, down from the year-ago $1.63 billion, or 56 cents a share. Revenue rose 6% from a year ago to $22.6 billion. Excluding certain costs, latest-quarter earnings were 54 cents a share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were looking for a 54-cent profit on sales of $22.46 billion.

"Verizon is off to a strong start in 2007," said CEO Ivan Seidenberg. "Our results show that across the board we have accelerated organic growth in key markets: retail wireless, broadband, data, video and global IP [Internet protocol]." ...