Verizon Nets 5.3% Rise in Q1 Profits, High-Fives Alltel

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has posted some uncharacteristically rosy first quarter results, claiming a 5.3% raise in profits to $3.21 billion; even without Alltel, they would have enjoyed 3.3% growth. Revenues alone were up 11.6 percent to $26.6 billion, and Verizon now counts 86.6 million customers, which is up of 28.8% since last year. If Verizon can actually get their hands on an LTE iPhone in 2010, they’re in a pretty sweet spot, but in the meantime, 2009 should be interesting enough if that swivelling Nokia handset or keyboard-morphing Alias2 come to fruition. Now, to the real question: is Verizon the gorilla or the shark?

[Verizon via Cellular-News]