United States Cellular (USM) reported $970 million in revenue for the quarter ended December 2024, representing a year-over-year decline of 3%. EPS of $0.05 for the same period compares to $0.16 a year ago.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of +2.66% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $944.89 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being -$0.10, the EPS surprise was +150.00%.

While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how U.S. Cellular performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Net additions (losses) - Retail Connections - Postpaid: -14 million versus -42.5 million estimated by two analysts on average.
• Gross additions - Retail Connections - Postpaid: 140 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of 116.51 million.
• Customers -Total (Total connections): 4.43 million versus the two-analyst average estimate of 4.45 million.
• ARPU - Prepaid: $30.59 versus the two-analyst average estimate of $31.43.
• Churn Rate - Prepaid: 3.7% versus the two-analyst average estimate of 3.7%.
• ARPU - Postpaid: $51.73 versus the two-analyst average estimate of $52.16.
• Operating Revenues- Equipment sales: $228 million compared to the $205.61 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of -6.9% year over year.
• Operating Revenues- Service: $742 million versus $739.28 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -1.7% change.

View all Key Company Metrics for U.S. Cellular here>>>

Shares of U.S. Cellular have returned +6.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +2.2% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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