Verizon Gains Subscribers Without Price Wars, Raises Outlook

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ ) reported second-quarter results Friday, with adjusted earnings beating Wall Street estimates while revenue narrowly missed expectations as customers held onto their phones longer, reducing equipment sales.

Adjusted earnings came in at $1.30 per share, above the analyst consensus estimate of $1.27, according to Pro.

Revenue totaled $34.25 billion, missing the $35.11 billion estimate.

GAAP diluted earnings per share fell 22% year over year to 92 cents, while net income declined 22.9% to $3.9 billion.

The company is working to rebuild subscriber growth through simpler wireless plans, bundled offerings and loyalty rewards as slower smartphone upgrades continue to pressure equipment revenue.

Verizon Revamps Customer Strategy Verizon has struggled to accelerate growth in recent years as T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS ) gained wireless market share.

CEO Dan Schulman, who took over in late 2025, has focused on simplifying the company’s offerings and improving the customer experience, Speaking at the Bloomberg Tech conference in June, Schulman said customers should expect a “steady drumbeat of improvements” over the coming months.

Verizon has since introduced its Simplicity unlimited 5G plan with simplified pricing, access to its fastest 5G network and mobile hotspot data.

The company also launched Verizon One, which combines wireless and home internet services into a single bill, and expanded its loyalty rewards program with discounts and promotional offers.

Profitability, Cash Flow Improve Total operating revenue declined 0.7% year over year to $34.3 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 7.2% to a record quarterly $13.7 billion, while adjusted earnings per share rose 6.6%.

Operating cash flow climbed 16.3% to $10.44 billion, and free cash flow increased 24.4% to $6.43 billion.

Capital expenditures totaled $4.01 billion during the quarter.

Verizon ended the period with $136.5 billion in total unsecured debt and $128.7 billion in net unsecured debt.

The company repurchased $1 billion of its shares during the quarter and increased its full-year share repurchase target to $4.5 billion from at least $3 billion.

Subscriber Growth Continues Mobility and broadband service revenue increased 2.8% year over year to $23.4 billion.

Wireless equipment revenue fell 19.7% to $5.02 billion.

Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone subscribers, 73,000 prepaid subscribers and 348,000 broadband customers during the quarter, lifting total broadband connections to 17.1 million.

Postpaid phone additions easily topped analysts’ expectations of 103,900 net additions, according to FactSet.

Schulman told Reuters on Friday the company is attracting subscribers and improving long-term retention by offering greater value rather than relying on aggressive promotional subsidies.

Consumer revenue totaled $26.24 billion with a 30.6% operating margin.

Business revenue reached $7.16 billion with a 13.9% operating margin.

Outlook Raised Verizon raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $4.99 to $5.04 from its previous forecast of $4.95 to $4.99.

The updated outlook is above the analyst consensus estimate of $4.96.

The company reaffirmed its expectation for postpaid phone net additions in the upper half of its previously announced range of 750,000 to 1 million.

Verizon also increased its mobility and broadband service revenue growth forecast to 2.5% to 3.0% from 2.0% to 3.0%.

It continues to expect operating cash flow growth of approximately 2% to 4% and raised its free cash flow growth outlook to 9% to 10% from at least 7%.

Verizon Price Action VZ Price Action: Verizon Communications shares were down 1.23% at $43.28 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Pro data.

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