S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Windstream Corporation (NASDAQ:WIN) reported its results for the third quarter. Windstream is a customer-focused broadband and telecommunications company that provides phone, Internet, complex data, and voice and transport services. It reaches customers in 29 states and offers its services primarily in rural areas in the United States.

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Windstream Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Third Quarter

Results: Net income for the telecom services company fell to $72 million (14 cents per share) vs. $85.2 million (18 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 15.5% from the year earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 5.9% to $1.02 billion from the year earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: WIN reported adjusted net income of 19 cents per share. By that measure, the company fell short of mean estimate of 20 cents per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $1.03 billion.

Quoting Management: “I am very pleased with the improvements in revenue trends we have accomplished this year,” said Jeff Gardner, president and CEO of Windstream. “Our goal over the past few years was to transform our business to achieve revenue and cash flow growth. Given our shifting revenue mix, success-based capital investments and expected deal synergies, we are on the verge of showing growth in both of these areas.”

Key Stats:

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue increased 12.3% to $1.03 billion in the second quarter. The figure rose 20.7% in the first quarter from the year earlier and climbed 30% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter.

The company fell short of estimates last quarter after being in line with expecations the quarter before with net income of 19 cents.

Net income has dropped 12.7% year over year on average across the last five quarters. Performance was hurt by a 68.3% decline in the first quarter from the year earlier quarter.

Looking Forward: Expectations for the company’s next quarter performance are higher than they were ninety days ago. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fourth quarter has risen to 21 cents per share from 20 cents. The average estimate for the fiscal year has fallen to 77 cents per share from 78 cents seven days ago.

Competitors to Watch: Consolidated Communications Hldgs. Inc (NASDAQ:CNSL), PAETEC Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:PAET), Xfone, Inc. (AMEX:XFN), Frontier Communications Corp (NYSE:FTR), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB), 8×8, Inc. (NASDAQ:EGHT), CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), and XO Holdings Inc. (XOHO).

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(Source: Xignite Financials)

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