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Verizon Communications on Friday reported second-quarter earnings that topped the Street’s estimates, though it failed to match AT&T’s impressive wireless growth during the quarter. Revenue climbed to $27.5 billion in the June quarter, up 2.8% from the same quarter last year. EPS was up 6 cents sequentially to $0.57, a huge swing from the second quarter in 2010 when Verizon reported a loss of $0.42 per share. In wireless, the carrier netted 2.2 million subscribers — or “total connections,” rather — excluding gains made through acquisitions, and service revenues climbed 6.6% year-over-year. Verizon now reports total connections, which include machine to machine devices and other non-standard subscribers, and its total now sits at 106.3 million. The carrier also said that it activated 2.3 million iPhone 4 handsets in the June quarter. “In terms of earnings growth and the acceleration of revenue growth, this has been one of Verizon’s best quarters since the 2008 economic downturn,” said Verizon Chairman and CEO Ivan Seidenberg in a statement. “We expanded sequential margins in both our wireline and wireless businesses, and in the second half of the year we expect Verizon to build on this strong, positive momentum to continue to drive profitable, sustainable growth.” The company also noted that Ivan Sandberg will step down as CEO, replaced by Lowell McAdam. Sandberg will retail is his as chairman of the board. Verizon’s full press release follows below. More →