Altice USA (NYSE: ATUS) reported Q1 EPS of ($0.04), $0.11 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.07. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.4 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.4 billion.

Altice USA Key Financial Highlights

• Revenue growth +2.9% YoY in Q1 2019 to $2.40 billion, driven by Residential revenue growth of +2.4%, Business services revenue growth of +5.3% and advertising revenue growth of +6.8%.
• Net loss reduced to $25 million in Q1 2019, or $0.04/share (from $129 million in Q1 2018, or $0.17/share).
• Adjusted EBITDA grew +5.3% YoY to $1.03 billion, an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 43.1% in Q1 2019 (+6.7% YoY Adjusted EBITDA growth and 43.7% Adjusted EBITDA margin excluding the impact of consolidating i24NEWS and mobile losses)(1).
• Free Cash Flow(2) declined -5.6% YoY in Q1 2019 to $164 million mainly reflecting higher investment in key growth initiatives including Altice One, fiber (FTTH), new home build expansion and mobile.
• 2019 guidance reiterated including $1.5 billion of share repurchases ($600 million in Q1 2019).

Dexter Goei, Altice USA Chief Executive Officer, said: "Altice USA has made a great start to 2019 as we continue to realize the benefits of our ongoing investments to improve the customer experience and deliver state-of-the-art connectivity services, advanced business solutions and high-quality content. Altice One is delivering the best ever video customer performance for Altice USA. With our focus on network investment we continue to see improved broadband customer growth and significant growth in the demand for higher speeds and data usage. Finally, we are on track with all our new growth initiatives including the launch of our wireless service this summer, accelerating our fiber-to-the-home deployment and enhancing the growth of our advanced advertising and news platforms, now including Cheddar.”

Altice USA FY 2019 Outlook Reiterated

For the full year 2019 Altice USA expects:

• Revenue growth of 2.5-3.0% YoY.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion (ex-mobile).
• Increased investment for the continued rollout of Altice One, FTTH, and new mobile network with annual capex within a range of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion.
• Free Cash Flow growth (compared to $1.35 billion in FY 2018) including mobile related costs.
• Year-end leverage target unchanged at 4.5x to 5.0x net debt / Adjusted EBITDA (L2QA basis).
• Share repurchases of $1.5 billion (ex-M&A).

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Altice USA (ATUS) click here.