Verizon Raises 2026 Guidance After Record Q3 Results

Verizon Communications Inc. raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the third consecutive quarter following third-quarter results that set new company benchmarks. The company reported consolidated Adjusted EBITDA of $13.8 billion, an 8.0 percent increase year-over-year, which represents the highest quarterly result in its history.

The telecommunications firm delivered 406,000 postpaid phone net additions in the third quarter, a more than 820.0 percent increase from the same period last year. This marks the strongest third-quarter performance in five years. Verizon also added 137,000 postpaid net accounts, its best performance in over a decade. In the first nine months of 2026, the company acquired nearly 1.7 million mobility and broadband subscribers, compared to 879,000 in the first nine months of 2025.

Mobility and broadband service revenue reached $23.5 billion, growing 2.9 percent year-over-year. Total operating revenue was $34.3 billion, up 1.5 percent year-over-year, though equipment revenue declined 9.0 percent due to lower upgrade volumes and reduced device subsidies. Consolidated net income rose 5.2 percent year-over-year to $5.3 billion, driving an adjusted earnings per share of $1.31, an 8.3 percent increase.

Cash flow from operating activities was $11.5 billion for the quarter, supporting free cash flow of $7.8 billion, up 12.1 percent year-over-year. For the first nine months of the year, cash flow from operations totaled $29.9 billion, while free cash flow reached $18.0 billion, a 14.3 percent year-over-year increase. Capital expenditures for the same period were $11.9 billion.

Verizon signed an agreement valued at more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to expand their strategic alliance. The deal establishes a commercial framework to scale distributed compute for agentic and generative AI workloads.

Dan Schulman, Verizon CEO, stated that the company is fundamentally stronger operationally, financially, and competitively one year into its transformation. He noted that prioritizing customer-first offerings over heavy subsidies is winning loyal customers while expanding margins and reducing churn.

The company returned $12.8 billion of capital to shareholders in the first nine months of 2026, a 49.0 percent increase year-over-year. This included $8.8 billion in dividend payments and $4.0 billion in share repurchases. Verizon expects to repurchase up to $4.5 billion for the full year.

As of the end of the third quarter, Verizon's total unsecured debt was $136.1 billion, down from $136.5 billion at the end of the second quarter. Net unsecured debt stood at $123.7 billion, compared to $128.7 billion in the previous quarter.