Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), a company whose competitors include Verizon (NYSE: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), issued its Q1 results on Tuesday, and they weren't inspiring to me at all. Revenues declined 1% to $3.4 billion. Net income took a dive to the tune of 25%, coming in at $0.09 per diluted share. Those are year-over-year declines -- the sequential-quarter comparisons also told a tale of decline. Adjusting the earnings for some tax considerations did, however, yield a net-income increase of almost 6%.
But then there's one of my favorite measures of growth -- free cash flow. Qwest didn't hit this metric. Free cash, on an adjusted basis, was $56 million this time around versus $156 million last time around (I give Qwest credit for increasing its operating cash flow, however). Qwest was able to carve out some double-digit gains in its broadband and video subscribers, but that seemed to be of little help right now.
Overall, I came away from the earnings report -- which told a complex story of adjustments, EBITDA, and such -- not wanting to add this stock to my watch list. According to Briefing.com, Qwest missed expectations by a penny, and its revenues failed to go beyond what Wall Street was looking for. Considering the low price of the shares, and the fact that the dividend yield isn't one I'd chase, I'll feel free to leave this one alone.
Disclosure: I do not own shares in any company mentioned here; positions can change at any time.
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