Verizon Communications NYSE:VZ fell 0.36% premarket after reporting second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.30 a share, ahead of the $1.28 analysts expected, while revenue of $34.3 billion fell 0.7% and came in short of the $35.16 billion forecast. The shortfall traces to equipment sales, down nearly 20%, or more than $1.2 billion, as customers held phones longer and Verizon cut spending on device subsidies.
Net income dropped 22.9% to $3.9 billion on $1.8 billion of pre-tax special items, including a $746 million loss tied to classifying its international wireline business as held for sale, $397 million of severance and $258 million of asset rationalization charges. Adjusted EBITDA rose 7.2% to $13.7 billion at a 40.1% margin, the highest the company ever reported.
Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone customers, its best consumer second quarter in five years, plus 348,000 broadband net additions. Free cash flow climbed 24.4% to $6.4 billion in the quarter. Verizon returned $9.4 billion in total capital to shareholders in the first half of 2026.
Guidance went up for a second straight quarter, with adjusted EPS now seen at $4.99 to $5.04 and free cash flow growth of 9% to 10%. The buyback target rose to as much as $4.5 billion. CEO Dan Schulman said the results show "a structural inflection point across our entire business."