Verizon Earnings Beat, Revenue Misses. New CEO Promises Big Changes.
  
Verizon Communications ( VZ) on Wednesday reported third-quarter adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street targets while revenue missed amid its sudden change in chief executives. Verizon stock rose on the news.
The telecom firm continued to lose wireless subscriber market share amid intensified competition but added more postpaid phone subscribers overall than expected.
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"In telecom, any share gain that is, or even feels, too abrupt is destabilizing," said Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson in a report. "Investors with a long enough memory will recall the extent to which Sprint's perpetual status as a cornered and wounded animal weighed on industry dynamics. For years. Well, now it's Verizon's turn."
Also, Verizon reiterated 2025 guidance and announced a dividend increase.
New Verizon CEO Plans Shake-UpIn a surprise move, Verizon on Oct. 6 appointed Dan Schulman as chief executive officer. He replaced Hans Vestberg. Schulman has served as the CEO of PayPal Holdings ( PYPL) and Virgin Mobile.
On the Verizon earnings call with Wall Street analysts, Schulman promised big changes.
"When I look at our performance objectively Verizon is clearly falling short of our potential," he said, according to a FactSet transcript. "And as a result, we are not delivering the shareholder returns our investors expect. Despite investing significantly in network leadership, we have not been able to translate that into winning in the market."
He added: "We aim to win fairly by having the best overall value proposition and delighting our customers across all elements of the marketing mix. This is not going to be about promotional activities that can be quickly imitated. It is about true innovation, not easily replicated by our competitors."
Commitment To DividendSchulman continued: "We understand changes needed, and we are aggressively making those changes. Our goals and our priorities are clear. First, delighting our customers to meaningfully increase our share of industry net adds. Second, cost transformation, fundamentally restructuring our expense base. Third, capital efficiency, optimizing how and where we invest and fourth, accelerating shareholder returns by increasing our bottom line growth, and a steadfast commitment to our dividend."
For the period ended Sept. 30, Verizon earnings came in at $1.21 per share on an adjusted basis, excluding one-time items, up two cents from a year earlier. Revenue rose 1.5% to $33.8 billion.
Analysts had predicted Verizon earnings of $1.19 per share, with revenue at $34.26 billion, according to FactSet.
Consumer BusinessIn Q3, Verizon said it added 44,000 wireless postpaid phone subscribers overall, though its consumer business lost 7,000 subscribers, versus estimates for a gain of 19,000 subscribers. Billed monthly, postpaid phone subscribers are the highest spending wireless subscribers.
Meanwhile, Verizon said it added 261,000 wireless 5G broadband customers. At the end of September, it had 5.4 million 5G broadband subscribers.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at $11.23 billion, compared to estimates of $12.73 billion.
The outlook for Verizon's consumer wireless business has been key for investors. Competition has intensified in 2025 pressuring profit margins, say Wall Street analysts.
AT&T ( T), Verizon and T-Mobile ( TMUS) have increased subsidies on mobile phones amid Apple's ( AAPL) roll out of higher priced iPhone 17 models. And, the wireless firms have stepped up phone trade-in promotions that offer consumers buyouts if they terminate contracts.
In Q3, T-Mobile added 841,000 postpaid phone subscribers while AT&T added 405,000.
Verizon's deal to acquire Frontier Communications ( FYBR) for $20 billion in cash is expected to close in early 2026.
Verizon Stock Technical RatingsOn the stock market today, shares rose 1.5% to 39.90 in morning trading. Verizon stock had retreated 2% in 2025 heading into the earnings report. VZ stock has tumbled in October, hitting a nine-month low last week.
Verizon stock holds a Composite Rating of 25 out of a possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
Also, Verizon stock has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of E. That rating analyzes price and volume changes in a stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. Its current rating indicates more funds are buying than selling. The rating, on a scale of A+ to E, measures institutional buying and selling in a stock. A+ signifies heavy institutional buying, a C grade is neutral.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
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