Verizon Communications Inc. posted higher profit and revenue in the third quarter, though its consumer segment continued to shed high-value postpaid phone subscribers.

The telecom giant reported on Wednesday that despite a net loss of 7,000 wireless retail postpaid phone users in its consumer business, revenue for the segment still rose by 2.9%.

While Verizon's business segment added 51,000 postpaid phone subscribers, revenue in this division declined by 2.8%.

Wireless service revenue, its largest business segment, grew 2.1% year-over-year to $21 billion.

During the quarter, Verizon added 306,000 broadband connections, bringing its total broadband connections to over 13.2 million by the end of the period. It also gained 261,000 fixed wireless access connections.

In premarket trading, Verizon shares climbed 3.4% to $40.65.

By subscriber count, Verizon remains the largest U.S. telecom operator but has recently lagged behind rivals AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile. In their most recent quarters, AT&T added 405,000 net postpaid phone subscribers, while T-Mobile gained 1 million.

For the three months ended September 30, Verizon reported a profit of $5.06 billion, or $1.17 per share, compared with $3.41 billion, or $0.78 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain one-time items, adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.21, slightly above analysts' forecast of $1.19, according to FactSet.

Revenue edged up 1.5% to $33.82 billion, missing Wall Street's expectation of $34.26 billion.

Verizon reaffirmed confidence in its full-year guidance, projecting total wireless service revenue growth between 2% and 2.8%, with adjusted EPS growth expected to range from 1% to 3%.

Earlier this month, Verizon appointed Daniel Schulman as its new CEO. The earnings report follows this leadership transition amid intense industry competition, which has pressured Verizon's pricing strategies and ability to attract new subscribers.