The company added 431,000 phone subscribers who pay a monthly bill on a net basis. Analysts at Wells Fargo said in an earlier note that they expected 320,000.
Verizon shares were up 1.03 percent at $54.00 in trading before the US stock market opened.
The No. 1 US wireless carrier said last week a tax-overhaul bill signed into law by US President Donald Trump late last year would result in a one-time reduction in net deferred income tax liabilities of about $16.8 billion.
Verizon estimated that the impact of that law to earnings per share for the year ended Dec. 31 was about $4.10.
Net income attributable to Verizon was $18.7 billion, or $4.56 per share, in the fourth quarter through Dec. 31, up considerably from $4.5 billion, or $1.10 a share, a year earlier.
Excluding items such as the impact of the tax law, earnings per share were 86 cents.
Total revenue rose to $34.0 billion from $32.34 billion a year earlier.
According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, analysts expected adjusted earnings per share of 88 cents on revenue of $33.26 billion.
The company expects full-year revenue for 2018 to grow at a low single-digit percentage rate and service revenue growth to turn positive around the end of the year or early in 2019.
It also expects low single-digit percentage growth in adjusted earnings per share, excluding the impact of tax reform and a new accounting standard it has adopted.