VZ
A miss on revenue, but not on vibes
Verizon’s second quarter wasn’t exactly a fireworks show. Revenue slipped 0.7% to $34.3 billion, missing Wall Street’s $35.2 billion target, mostly because wireless equipment revenue sagged as upgrade volumes slowed and subsidies got leaner.
The parts investors actually care about
But Scotiabank’s Maher Yaghi basically said: don’t stare at the missed top line like it’s the only line that matters. The KPIs that count for Verizon looked better:
- Mobility and broadband service revenue growth accelerated to 2.8% year over year
- Postpaid phone net adds jumped to 184,000 from 55,000 last quarter
- Consumer phone churn improved to 0.84%
- Total broadband subscribers grew 12% to 348,000, with both fixed wireless and fiber doing the heavy lifting
That’s the kind of stuff that tells you whether Verizon is actually building momentum or just rearranging deck chairs on a very expensive ship.
The real catch: the second-half ramp
Here’s the rub: management held onto its postpaid phone net add target, but Verizon only added 239,000 in the first half of the year. Translation: the company needs a serious subscriber sprint in the back half if it wants to keep revenue growth rolling into 2027.
Still, Verizon raised 2026 guidance across the board, including:
- Mobility and broadband service revenue growth: 2.5% to 3%, up from 2% to 3%
- Adjusted EPS: $4.99 to $5.04, up from $4.95 to $4.99
- Free cash flow growth: 9% to 10%, up from 7% or more
Why your portfolio should care
Analyst upgrades don’t magically fix a business, but they can shift sentiment fast — especially when the company is showing better churn, better subscriber trends, and a fatter outlook. The bigger question is whether Verizon can keep those net adds moving without turning on the promotional juice and torching margins.
Big picture: Verizon doesn’t need to be flashy. It just needs to keep the phone ringing, the broadband line growing, and Wall Street convinced the turnaround isn’t a one-quarter cameo.