Event: Friday, July 24, 2026
Results release: 7:00 a.m. ET
Earnings call: 8:30 a.m. ET
Verizon has scheduled its second-quarter results and webcast for Friday morning. (verizon.com)
Verizon enters 2Q26 with a markedly improved narrative: stronger wireless subscriber trends, lower customer-acquisition and retention costs, expanding profitability, a raised earnings outlook, and an active share-repurchase program. The key question is no longer simply whether Verizon can meet earnings expectations—it is whether Q1 represented the beginning of a durable improvement in customer economics and cash-flow conversion.
The setup is constructive but not effortless. Management has set a higher bar by calling Q1 the expected low point for mobility and broadband service-revenue growth, raising adjusted-EPS guidance, and targeting the upper half of its postpaid-phone net-add range. Investors will want proof in Q2 that churn is holding down, service-revenue growth is accelerating, and cost actions are not coming at the expense of customer growth.
Published pre-earnings expectations call for:
| Metric | 2Q26 expectation | 2Q25 comparison | Implied growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS | $1.28 | $1.21 | ~5.8% |
| Revenue | $35.2B | $34.5B | ~2.0% |
The headline EPS estimate is essentially in line with Verizon’s $1.28 adjusted EPS in 1Q26. Therefore, a simple EPS beat may not be sufficient for a positive stock reaction; the more important issue is likely the quality and sustainability of the underlying operating metrics.
This is the central operating KPI.
In 1Q26, Verizon posted 55,000 total retail postpaid phone net additions, its first positive first-quarter result since 2013. The company attributed the improvement to a better mix of new-to-Verizon additions, lower churn, and a less promotion-heavy commercial strategy. It also raised its 2026 outlook to the upper half of 750,000 to 1.0 million total retail postpaid phone net additions. (verizon.com)
For Q2, investors should focus on:
Read-through: A solid net-add result paired with stable-to-improving churn would validate management’s “better customer economics” thesis. Strong adds bought through materially higher promotion spending would be less convincing.
Verizon’s full-year objective is 2%–3% mobility and broadband service-revenue growth, while wireless service revenue is expected to be approximately flat during 2026 as it works through promotional amortization and laps prior-year pricing actions. (verizon.com)
In Q1, mobility and broadband service revenue grew 1.6%, held back by an estimated 80 basis points from customer credits and other effects tied to the January network outage. Management said March growth had returned to the middle of its annual target range and described Q1 as the low point of the year. (verizon.com)
What investors need to see in Q2:
A failure to show a sequential improvement in service-revenue growth would be the clearest risk to the turnaround narrative.
Broadband remains Verizon’s most important strategic growth vector and an increasingly important tool for reducing wireless churn.
Verizon added 341,000 broadband subscribers in Q1, comprising 214,000 fixed-wireless-access (FWA) additions and 127,000 fiber broadband additions. The Frontier acquisition was consolidated beginning January 20, 2026, and management expects to exceed 32 million fiber passings by year-end. (verizon.com)
For Q2, watch:
The investment case is stronger if Verizon can demonstrate that it is adding fiber customers profitably while maintaining FWA growth where network capacity supports it.
Q1 established a high earnings bar: adjusted EBITDA rose 6.7% year over year to a company-record $13.4 billion, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 140 basis points to 38.9%. Adjusted EPS increased 7.6% to $1.28. (verizon.com)
Management is targeting $5 billion of operating-expense savings in 2026, supported by workforce reductions, lower marketing and retention costs, network optimization, IT simplification, digital channel migration, and AI-enabled automation.
The recent reported plan to cut roughly 3,000 positions and divest 274 company-owned retail locations to franchisees reinforces management’s willingness to move aggressively on the cost base. However, it also elevates the need to monitor customer-service quality, retail execution, and severance/restructuring cash costs.
Key Q2 questions:
Verizon’s cash flow is central to both its valuation and dividend support.
The company reaffirmed 2026 expectations for:
Q1 free cash flow was $3.8B, up 4% year over year. Verizon had $130.1B of net unsecured debt at quarter-end and a 2.6x net-unsecured-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio following the Frontier acquisition. Management expects to repay substantially all Frontier debt by year-end and targets a return to 2.0x–2.25x leverage in 2027. (verizon.com)
The company also repurchased $2.5B of stock in Q1, versus a full-year target of at least $3B.
What matters in Q2:
This is particularly important because Verizon’s appeal to income-oriented investors depends on the durability of free cash flow—not just quarterly EPS.
| 2026 guidance | Current outlook |
|---|---|
| Adjusted EPS | $4.95–$4.99 |
| Adjusted EPS growth | 5%–6% YoY |
| Retail postpaid phone net adds | Upper half of 750K–1.0M |
| Mobility & broadband service-revenue growth | 2%–3% |
| Operating cash flow | $37.5B–$38.0B |
| Capex | $16.0B–$16.5B |
| Free cash flow | ≥$21.5B |
The most likely positive surprise would be stronger confidence in the service-revenue trajectory, cost savings, and free-cash-flow outlook. The most meaningful negative surprise would be a guide reaffirmation accompanied by weak churn, soft postpaid phone adds, or service revenue still stuck below the targeted range.
VZ closed at $43.83 on July 23, up roughly 7.6% year to date, compared with declines of approximately 7.5% for AT&T and 16.1% for T-Mobile over the same period.
Using the midpoint of Verizon’s adjusted-EPS guidance, the stock trades at roughly 8.8x 2026 adjusted EPS. Based on the Q1 quarterly dividend of $0.7075 per share, the indicated annualized dividend yield is approximately 6.5% at the July 23 close.
That valuation leaves room for upside if management demonstrates that:
Conversely, the stock’s income appeal could be challenged if the turnaround requires Verizon to reintroduce heavier subsidies or if Frontier-related leverage and integration costs impede cash generation.
The Q2 report needs to show operational confirmation, not merely an earnings beat. Verizon’s Q1 results established a credible turnaround framework: better churn, more disciplined acquisition, improving broadband scale, cost savings, and stronger cash returns. Q2 should demonstrate whether those gains are broadening into service-revenue acceleration and sustainable postpaid growth.
Investor focus on the call: churn, postpaid-phone net adds, service-revenue progression, broadband mix, realized cost savings, and free-cash-flow/debt-repayment cadence.