Last Updated: 21 June 2026
Verizon Communications is the largest wireless carrier in the United States by subscriber base and one of the country's two national fibre-and-mobility convergence players. After several years of flat revenue, market-share losses and a heavy debt load, the company entered 2026 at what management calls an inflection point: a new chief executive, Dan Schulman, the closing of the transformational Frontier fibre acquisition, and the first positive first-quarter postpaid phone net additions since 2013. This report walks through Verizon's financials, valuation, competitive position and risks using only primary-source filings and company press releases. For live pricing see our Live Charts, scheduled catalysts on the Economic Calendar, and discussion in the Forum.
1. Company Snapshot
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Verizon Communications Inc. |
| Ticker / Exchange | VZ (NYSE / Nasdaq) |
| Sector | Communication Services — Telecom |
| Market cap | ~$190bn (June 2026) |
| Share price | ~$45.49 (20 June 2026) |
| Revenue (FY2025) | $138.2bn |
| Net income (FY2025) | $17.6bn |
| GAAP EPS (FY2025) | $4.06 |
| Adjusted EPS (FY2025) | $4.71 |
| Dividend yield | ~6.2% (quarterly $0.7075) |
| Employees | ~99,600 (FTE, 31 Mar 2026, incl. Frontier) |
| CEO | Dan Schulman (since October 2025) |
| Headquarters | New York City, USA |
| Next earnings | Q2 2026 — expected 21–24 July 2026 |
2. Bull & Bear Case
Bull Case
- Turnaround is showing in the numbers: Q1 2026 delivered the first positive first-quarter postpaid phone net adds since 2013 (+55,000, a 340,000 year-over-year swing) and adjusted EPS growth of 7.6%, the best quarterly rate since 2021.
- Frontier scales the fibre strategy: the January 2026 close adds fibre passings toward over 30 million homes and businesses, enabling mobile-plus-fibre convergence bundles that historically cut mobile churn materially.
- Heavy, growing free cash flow: FY2025 free cash flow was $20.1bn and 2026 guidance is for at least $21.5bn, the highest since 2020, comfortably covering a ~$12bn annual dividend.
- Income with a rising payout: a ~6%+ dividend yield backed by 19 consecutive years of increases makes it a core income holding.
- Cheap on cash earnings: a high-single-digit forward P/E and ~9x price-to-free-cash-flow leave room for re-rating if the volume turnaround holds.
Bear Case
- Intense competition from T-Mobile: T-Mobile has taken postpaid share for years (around 36% of postpaid by early 2025) and competes aggressively on price and 5G quality, capping Verizon's pricing power.
- Very high debt: total debt was $172.5bn at 31 March 2026, rising further after the Frontier deal, with unsecured debt at 8.0x trailing net income; rate moves and refinancing costs matter.
- Low structural growth: revenue has barely moved across five years and wireless service revenue is guided roughly flat in 2026, so the equity story rests on execution and cash, not expansion.
- Integration and leadership risk: a new CEO, a major fibre integration and a recent Consumer-chief departure all add execution uncertainty.
- Capital-intensity never stops: ~$16bn of annual capex plus fibre build commitments mean any demand or cost shock quickly pressures free cash flow.
3. Business Segments
Verizon reports two operating segments, Consumer and Business, with the Consumer segment dominating revenue and profit. The split below uses first-quarter 2026 reported revenue.
| Segment | % of revenue | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer | ~77% | Wireless mobility, fixed wireless access (FWA) and Fios/fibre broadband sold to individuals and households, plus device equipment sales. Q1 2026 revenue $26.5bn. |
| Business | ~22% | Mobility, broadband, networking and security solutions for enterprises, government and small/medium business. Q1 2026 revenue $7.4bn. |
| Corporate / eliminations | ~1% | Corporate items and intersegment eliminations not allocated to the two reportable segments. |
4. Business Model
Verizon is fundamentally a subscription network operator: it spends heavily to build and maintain wireless and fibre networks, then earns recurring monthly service revenue from connections, supplemented by lumpier equipment (handset) sales.
How it makes money: the core engine is wireless service revenue (around $21bn a quarter), driven by the number of postpaid phone connections and average revenue per account. Broadband (FWA plus Fios and now Frontier fibre) is the growth layer, and equipment revenue largely passes through device costs at low margin.
Unit economics: the model is high fixed cost, high incremental margin. Once a network is built, each additional subscriber is highly profitable, which is why net additions and churn are the metrics that move the stock. Consumer segment EBITDA margin ran above 43% in Q1 2026.
Moat and strategy: the moat is spectrum, network coverage and the capital scale required to replicate them. Schulman's "play to win" strategy leans on converged mobile-plus-fibre bundles (which reduce churn), a leaner cost base, and disciplined promotional spending rather than chasing growth at any price.
5. Financial Health
Verizon's five-year record is one of remarkably stable revenue, a large dividend, and a debt load that has been managed down and then back up around major transactions. The 2023 GAAP EPS dip reflects goodwill and other impairment charges that year; adjusted EPS shows the underlying trend more clearly. Figures are taken from Verizon's quarterly and annual earnings press releases.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($bn) | YoY % | GAAP EPS | Adjusted EPS | Dividend/share | Long-term debt (YE, $m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 133.61 | — | $5.32 | $5.50 | ~$2.51 | — |
| FY2022 | 136.84 | +2.4% | $5.06 | $5.18 | ~$2.56 | — |
| FY2023 | 133.97 | −2.1% | $2.75 | $4.71 | ~$2.61 | 137,701 |
| FY2024 | 134.79 | +0.6% | $4.14 | $4.59 | ~$2.69 | 121,381 |
| FY2025 | 138.19 | +2.5% | $4.06 | $4.71 | ~$2.74 | 139,532 |
The most recent five quarters show the volume turnaround taking hold while reported revenue grows in the low single digits. Q4 2025 GAAP EPS was depressed by ~$1.7bn of severance and other special items.
| Quarter | Revenue ($bn) | Adjusted EPS | GAAP EPS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 34.44 | $1.28 | $1.20 |
| Q4 2025 | 36.40 | $1.09 | $0.55 |
| Q3 2025 | 33.80 | $1.21 | $1.17 |
| Q2 2025 | 34.50 | $1.22 | $1.18 |
| Q1 2025 | 33.49 | $1.19 | $1.15 |
| FY2025 total | 138.19 | $4.71 | $4.06 |
6. Valuation
Raw metrics, June 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Market cap | ~$190bn (June 2026) |
| Enterprise value | ~$354bn (market cap ~$190bn + total debt $172.5bn − cash $8.4bn, per 31 Mar 2026 balance sheet) |
| Trailing P/E (GAAP) | ~11.2x (price $45.49 / FY2025 GAAP EPS $4.06) |
| P/E (forward) | ~9.2x (price $45.49 / FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance midpoint $4.97) |
| P/S (TTM) | ~1.4x (market cap ~$190bn / FY2025 revenue $138.2bn) |
| EV/EBITDA (TTM) | ~7.3x (EV ~$354bn / LTM consolidated EBITDA $48.6bn; on adjusted EBITDA of $50.8bn, ~7.0x) |
| P/FCF | ~9.4x (market cap ~$190bn / FY2025 free cash flow $20.1bn; FCF = operating CF $37.1bn − capex $17.0bn) |
| 52-week high | $51.68 |
| 52-week low | $38.39 |
| Short interest (% of float) | ~2.1% (≈88.4m shares, June 2026) |
| Days to cover | ~2 days (approx., on recent average volume) |
7. What Are They Building
Verizon's forward agenda centres on converging mobile and fibre. The closing of the Frontier acquisition in January 2026 is the cornerstone, taking the combined fibre-and-FWA broadband footprint to over 16.8 million connections by Q1 2026 and targeting around 32 million fibre passings by year-end. The strategic logic is that converged mobile-plus-fibre customers churn meaningfully less, improving lifetime value.
Alongside the fibre build, management is investing in fixed wireless access (over 5.7 million FWA subscribers and growing), expanding the C-band 5G footprint, and pursuing what Schulman has described as a multibillion-dollar AI revenue opportunity from network and edge services. The company has also modernised its long-term MVNO agreement with Charter and Comcast, securing recurring wholesale economics. Internally, the "play to win" programme is rebuilding the operating model to be leaner and faster, with cost actions (including severance charges taken in late 2025) intended to fund competitive pricing without eroding margins.
8. Competitive Landscape
Verizon competes in a mature, three-way national wireless market against AT&T and T-Mobile, plus cable MVNOs (Charter, Comcast) in mobile and a range of fibre and cable operators in broadband.
| Peer | Market cap (June 2026) | Key 2025 metric |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T (T) | ~$200bn | Added ~324,000 postpaid phone subscribers in Q1 2025; large fibre build underway |
| T-Mobile US (TMUS) | ~$250bn | ~36% of US postpaid market by early 2025; industry-low postpaid phone churn ~0.91% |
| Comcast (CMCSA) | ~$130bn | Cable MVNO and broadband rival; party to the modernised Verizon MVNO agreement |
Verizon remains the largest US carrier by total subscribers, but T-Mobile has been the share-gainer of the cycle. Verizon's differentiation rests on network quality, premium positioning and, increasingly, the fibre convergence bundle that AT&T also pursues. Peer market caps are approximate as of June 2026.
9. Leadership & Ownership
Dan Schulman, former PayPal CEO and a Verizon director since 2018, became chief executive in October 2025 and is driving the "play to win" turnaround; Anthony Skiadas is chief financial officer. Recent Form 4 activity has been a mix of routine equity compensation and some open-market selling by executives.
| Name | Date | Type | Shares | Price | Value | Plan Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samantha Hammock (EVP) | 29 May 2026 | Sell | 73,069 | $47.83 | ~$3.49m | Open market |
| Anthony Skiadas (CFO) | 7 May 2026 | Grant (phantom units) | 129.4 | $13.44 | ~$1,700 | Deferred comp |
| Kyle Malady (EVP) | May 2026 | Grant (phantom units) | 135.7 | $12.81 | ~$1,700 | Deferred comp |
Over the trailing 90 days insiders were modest net sellers (roughly $11.6m), typical for a large-cap where most executive compensation is equity-based.
10. Risks
- Competitive (Operational): aggressive pricing and superior net-add momentum from T-Mobile, plus cable MVNOs, could keep pressuring postpaid share and ARPA.
- Leverage (Financial): total debt of $172.5bn and unsecured-debt-to-net-income of 8.0x make the equity sensitive to interest rates and refinancing conditions.
- Integration (Operational): absorbing Frontier and repaying its debt while executing a cost transformation is complex and could disappoint on synergies or timing.
- Capital intensity (Financial): ~$16bn annual capex plus fibre commitments leave limited buffer if demand or input costs move against the company.
- Regulatory (Regulatory): spectrum, net-neutrality, consumer-protection and environmental/legacy-asset matters could raise costs or restrict operations.
- Technology & security (Operational): network outages (such as the January 2026 event that dented Q1 wireless service revenue) and cyberattacks carry financial and reputational risk.
11. Recent Developments
- 30 Apr 2026 — Q1 2026 results and raised guidance. Revenue rose 2.9% to $34.4bn, net income $5.1bn, adjusted EPS up 7.6% to $1.28, and the first positive first-quarter postpaid phone net adds since 2013; full-year adjusted EPS growth guidance was raised to 5.0–6.0%.
- 20 Jan 2026 — Frontier acquisition closed. The deal expands Verizon's fibre access toward over 30 million homes and businesses, accelerating the mobility-and-broadband convergence strategy.
- 30 Jan 2026 — FY2025 results. Full-year revenue of $138.2bn, net income $17.6bn, free cash flow $20.1bn, and the highest quarterly net additions since 2019 in Q4 2025.
- Oct 2025 — CEO transition. Dan Schulman replaced Hans Vestberg as chief executive, launching the "play to win" turnaround.
12. Key Dates
- Expected 21 Jul 2026 — Q2 2026 earnings release (date to be confirmed)
- Expected early Jul 2026 — Q2 2026 ex-dividend date
- Expected 01 Aug 2026 — Q2 2026 dividend payment
- Expected Sep 2026 — annual dividend review (19 consecutive years of increases)
Disclaimer: This research is produced by ChartsView for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. All information is sourced from publicly available company filings, press releases, and official data. ChartsView does not use analyst opinions or third-party ratings. Always conduct your own due diligence and consider your personal financial situation before making investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.