S SentinelOne Inc

By Ryan Knutson 

Verizon Communications Inc., the U.S.'s largest wireless carrier by subscribers, is scheduled to report first-quarter results before the market opens Thursday. Here's what you need to know:

EARNINGS FORECAST: Analysts are expecting earnings of 96 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters, down from $1.06 a share in the year-ago period.

REVENUE FORECAST: Analysts estimate revenue of $30.5 billion, a 5% drop from a year ago.

WHAT TO WATCH:

-- UNLIMITED PLAN: Verizon surprised the wireless world in February when it started selling an unlimited data plan. The carrier hadn't offered unlimited data since 2011, saying such plans didn't make economic sense, but it was forced to respond to aggressive unlimited offers from Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. Now the question is whether Verizon's offer was enough to turn things around, and how much damage its telecom rivals inflicted.

-- NETWORK: With more than 114 million wireless customers, Verizon's network already carries significant traffic, and the burden is sure to increase as more people sign up for unlimited plans. In addition, Verizon sat out the latest U.S. government auction for wireless airwaves. The company will likely face questions about how it plans to accommodate growing data traffic. Will the construction of small cells, which target coverage in dense areas, be enough? How long does Verizon have before it must acquire fresh spectrum? Will it consider buying airwaves from companies that own spectrum, such as Dish Network Corp. or Ligardo Networks LLC?

-- DIGITAL MEDIA: Verizon's Yahoo acquisition is expected to close within weeks, and the beleaguered internet pioneer will join AOL under Verizon's Oath unit. Although Oath will generate billions in annual revenue, it is still a drop in the bucket for Verizon, which earned $126 billion in revenue in 2016. To move the needle, Oath will need bigger hits than go90, the mobile video app Verizon launched in 2015. That app, which recently underwent another overhaul, has yet to gain meaningful traction.

-- REVENUE: Many of the early beneficiaries of Verizon's new unlimited data plan were customers previously paying hundreds of dollars a month for huge data allowances. Did enough low-end data users upgrade to pricier plans to offset those whose bills shrunk? Verizon has suffered three straight quarters of year-over-year revenue declines, and analysts expect revenue dropped again in the first quarter.

Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2017 11:47 ET (15:47 GMT)

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