Jan 30 (Reuters) - Verizon forecast annual profit and free cash flow above market expectations on Friday, as aggressive promotions during peak holiday period helped the U.S. carrier post its highest quarterly wireless subscriber additions in six years.

Verizon shares gained 3% in premarket trading.

In the fourth quarter, telecom operators often rely on device promotions and bundled plans to poach customers looking to switch carriers amid peak phone-buying during Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.

Verizon's promos, such as four phone lines for $100 per month, resonated with users, helping it add 616,000 monthly bill-paying wireless phone subscribers in the last three months of 2025. That trounced 417,250 additions expected, according to FactSet.

Verizon is focusing on wireless and broadband convergence to fuel subscriber growth this year as its fiber assets got a boost from the Frontier acquisition.

Fiber infrastructure has become a key driver of wireless subscriber growth as carriers compete on bundled offerings that combine mobile service with high-speed home internet.

Verizon now has more than 16.3 million fixed wireless access and fiber broadband connections with the addition of Frontier.

"Verizon will no longer be a hunting ground for our competitors," CEO Dan Schulman said.

Since taking over as CEO in October, Schulman has been working to make Verizon leaner and last announced more than 13,000 job cuts to shrink costs and restructure operations.

The company sees adjusted profit for 2026 between $4.90 and $4.95 per share compared with estimates of $4.76, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Annual free cash flow is expected to be at least $21.5 billion, above expectations for $20.96 billion, according to Visible Alpha.

Fourth-quarter revenue came in at $36.4 billion compared with estimates of $36.06 billion.