3Q 2026
Filed Oct 26, 2026Verizon Delivers Another Record-Breaking Quarter with 3Q 2026 Results Driven by Strong Postpaid Phone and Account Additions
Third-quarter operating revenue, net income, EPS, Adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow increased year-over-year, postpaid phone net additions reached 406,000, and Verizon raised full-year 2026 guidance for postpaid phone net additions, Adjusted EPS, cash flow from operations and free cash flow.
Key metrics
shortened, hover for the filing’s print| Metric | Value | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total operating revenues, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $34.31B | – | 1.5% |
| Service revenues and other, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $29.20B | – | 3.5% |
| Wireless equipment revenues, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $5.12B | – | (9.0%) |
| Total operating expenses, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $25.66B | – | (0.2%) |
| Cost of services, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $7.26B | – | 5.9% |
| Cost of wireless equipment, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $5.82B | – | (10.2%) |
| Selling, general and administrative expense, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $7.48B | – | (3.5%) |
| Depreciation and amortization expense, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $5.09B | – | 10.3% |
| Operating income, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $8.65B | – | 6.7% |
| Interest expense, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $1.95B | – | 17.2% |
| Income before provision for income taxes, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $6.82B | – | 4.4% |
| Provision for income taxes, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $1.50B | – | 1.8% |
| Net income, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $5.32B | – | 5.2% |
| Net income attributable to Verizon, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $5.20B | – | 5.0% |
| Diluted earnings per common share, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $ 1.25 | – | 6.8% |
| Adjusted EPS, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26non-GAAP | $ 1.31 | – | 8.3% |
| Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26non-GAAP | $13.80B | – | 8.0% |
| Consolidated net income margin, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | 15.5 % | – | – |
| Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA margin, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26non-GAAP | 40.2 % | – | – |
| Net cash provided by operating activities, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $11.52B | – | 2.2% |
| Free cash flow, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26non-GAAP | $7.80B | – | 12.1% |
| Total operating revenues, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $103.0B | – | 1.2% |
| Operating income, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $24.07B | – | (0.8%) |
| Net income, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $14.41B | – | (4.9%) |
| Diluted earnings per common share, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $ 3.37 | – | (4.0%) |
| Net cash provided by operating activities, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $29.94B | – | – |
| Capital expenditures (including capitalized software), 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26GAAP | $11.93B | – | – |
| Free cash flow, 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26non-GAAP | $18.01B | – | 14.3% |
| Postpaid phone net additions, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 406 (‘000) | – | more than 820.0 percent increase year-over-year |
| Postpaid net account additions, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 137,000 | – | – |
| Total broadband net additions, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 314 (‘000) | – | (2.5%) |
| Fiber broadband net additions, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 155 (‘000) | – | * |
| FWA broadband net additions, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 159 (‘000) | – | (39.1%) |
| Wireless retail postpaid phone churn, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | 0.94 % | – | improved 4 bps year-over-year |
| Wireless retail postpaid ARPA, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26other | $ 168.08 | – | (1.9%) |
Segments
| Segment | Revenue | q/q | y/y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer total operating revenues, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26Mobility and broadband service revenue was $ 19,777 million, up 3.6%, while wireless equipment revenue was $ 4,277 million, down (10.3%). | $26.43B | – | 1.3% |
| Consumer mobility and broadband service, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26Mobility and broadband service revenue primarily includes revenue from mobility communication services, FWA broadband, Fios internet and other fiber-based services. | $19.78B | – | 3.6% |
| Business total operating revenues, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26Other revenue was $ 2,471 million, up 10.0%, while mobility and broadband service revenue was $ 3,713 million, down (0.8%). | $7.02B | – | 2.6% |
| Business mobility and broadband service, 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26Mobility and broadband service revenue primarily includes revenue from mobility communication services, FWA broadband, Fios internet and other fiber-based services. | $3.71B | – | (0.8%) |
Amounts quoted below without a unit are in millions, as in the filing’s tables. Per-share figures are as printed.
Full-year 2026 outlook
- RevenueMobility and broadband service revenue: upper half of annual guidance of 2.5 to 3.0 percent growth, with approximately 4.0 percent growth in fourth-quarter 2026.
- NotePostpaid phone net additions: 1.1 million to 1.2 million.
- NoteAdjusted EPS: $5.04 to $5.06, or 7.0 to 7.5 percent growth year-over-year.
- NoteCash flow from operations: 3.5 to 5.0 percent growth year-over-year.
- NoteFree cash flow: expected to approach 12.0 percent growth year-over-year.
- NoteCapital expenditures: $16.0 billion to $16.5 billion, inclusive of success-based investments for AI Connect.
- NoteFree Cash Flow Forecast: $ 22,440 - 22,540 million.
- NoteNet Cash Provided by Operating Activities Forecast: $ 38,440 - 39,040 million.
- NoteNet Cash Provided by Operating Activities Growth Forecast: 3.5 % - 5.1 %.
- NoteFree Cash Flow Growth Forecast: 11.5 % - 12.0 %.
Capital returns
- In the first nine months of the year, Verizon returned $12.8 billion of capital to shareholders, up 49.0 percent year-over-year.
- This includes dividend payments of $8.8 billion and share repurchases of $4.0 billion.
- The company continues to expect to repurchase up to $4.5 billion for the full year.
- Quarterly cash dividends declared per common share were $ 0.7075 as of 9/30/26, compared with $ 0.6900 as of 12/31/25.
What drove it
- Mobility and broadband service revenue reached approximately $23.5 billion, representing a 2.9 percent increase year-over-year.
- Promotional cost of acquisition decreased 41 percent year-over-year, and promotional cost of retention improved by 30 percent year-over-year.
- More than half of new fiber customers chose 1-gigabit-plus download speeds.
- Verizon signed an agreement valued at $2.0+ billion with AWS that establishes a commercial framework to scale distributed compute and meet the real-time demands of agentic and generative AI workloads.
- The company cited significantly lower upgrade volumes, longer mobile-device holding periods and reduced device-subsidy spending as drivers of the equipment revenue decline.
Concerns
- Wireless equipment revenues declined (9.0%) year-over-year to $ 5,116 million in the third quarter.
- Business mobility and broadband service revenue declined (0.8%) year-over-year to $ 3,713 million in the third quarter.
- FWA broadband net additions declined (39.1%) year-over-year to 159 (‘000) in the third quarter.
- Interest expense increased 17.2% year-over-year to $ 1,950 million in the third quarter.
- Net income for the 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26 declined (4.9%) to $ 14,415 million.
What to watch
- Delivery against full-year postpaid phone net additions guidance of 1.1 million to 1.2 million.
- Fourth-quarter mobility and broadband service revenue growth guidance of approximately 4.0 percent.
- Execution against the $2.0+ billion AWS agreement and AI Connect investment.
- Progress toward total fiber passings exceeding 32 million by year-end and the medium-term target of 40 to 50 million fiber passings.
- Free cash flow delivery against the updated $ 22,440 - 22,540 million forecast and capital expenditures guidance of $16.0 billion to $16.5 billion.
Balance sheet and cash flow
- Cash and cash equivalents were $ 4,495 million as of 9/30/26, compared with $ 19,048 million as of 12/31/25.
- Total debt was $ 166,233 million as of 9/30/26, compared with $ 158,150 million as of 12/31/25.
- Unsecured debt was $ 136,095 million as of 9/30/26, compared with $ 136,471 million as of 6/30/26.
- Net unsecured debt was $ 123,721 million as of 9/30/26, compared with $ 128,682 million as of 6/30/26.
- Net unsecured debt to Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA ratio was 2.3 x as of 9/30/26, compared with 2.2 x as of 12/31/25.
- Cash paid related to acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired, was $ 9,480 million for the 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26.
- Acquisitions of wireless licenses were $ 4,384 million for the 9 Mos. Ended 9/30/26.
Analysis
Verizon reported higher third-quarter revenue and materially stronger profitability. Total operating revenue increased 1.5% to $ 34,313 million, as service revenues and other rose 3.5% and wireless equipment revenues fell (9.0%). The company described mobility and broadband service revenue of approximately $23.5 billion as up 2.9 percent year-over-year, with growth continuing its sequential improvement from 2.8 percent in second-quarter 2026 and 1.6 percent in first-quarter 2026.
Customer results were a central feature of the release. Verizon reported 406,000 postpaid phone net additions, versus 44 (‘000) a year earlier, and 137,000 postpaid net account additions. Wireless retail postpaid phone churn was 0.94 %, compared with 0.98 % in the prior-year quarter. Broadband net additions were 314 (‘000), comprising 155 (‘000) fiber broadband additions and 159 (‘000) FWA broadband additions. Fiber additions increased from 61 (‘000), while FWA additions declined from 261 (‘000).
Profitability improved despite the lower equipment revenue. Third-quarter operating income increased 6.7% to $ 8,650 million, net income increased 5.2% to $ 5,320 million, and diluted EPS increased to $ 1.25 from $ 1.17. Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA rose 8.0% to $ 13,802 million and its margin increased to 40.2 % from 37.8 %. Consumer operating income increased 5.6% and Business operating income increased 19.4%, with both segment operating income margins higher year-over-year.
Cash generation strengthened. Net cash provided by operating activities was $ 11,517 million and free cash flow was $ 7,801 million in the quarter, up 2.2% and 12.1%, respectively. For the first nine months, Verizon generated $ 18,010 million of free cash flow, paid $ 8,804 million in dividends and purchased $ 4,000 million of common stock for treasury. Net unsecured debt declined to $ 123,721 million at 9/30/26 from $ 128,682 million at 6/30/26, although interest expense increased 17.2% year-over-year in the quarter.
Management raised full-year 2026 guidance for postpaid phone net additions, Adjusted EPS, cash flow from operations and free cash flow. The updated free cash flow forecast is $ 22,440 - 22,540 million and the capital expenditure forecast remains $16.0 billion to $16.5 billion. The release also points to expected fourth-quarter mobility and broadband service revenue growth of approximately 4.0 percent, ongoing fiber expansion, and the $2.0+ billion AWS agreement as elements of the growth plan.
Management, verbatim
Verizon delivered another record-breaking quarter. One year into our transformation, Verizon is fundamentally stronger — operationally, financially, and competitively.
Dan Schulman, Verizon CEO
By prioritizing customer-first offerings like Simplicity and our expanded loyalty program over heavy subsidies, we are winning loyal, high-value customers while expanding margins, reducing churn, and generating strong sustained cash flow.
Dan Schulman, Verizon CEO
At the same time, technology leaders are choosing our fiber network to power the next generation of AI infrastructure.
Dan Schulman, Verizon CEO
Not in the filing
stated, not guessed- Gross profit and gross margin were not reported.
- A tax-rate metric was not reported.
- Quarterly capital expenditures for the 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26 were not reported.
- A prior earnings release outlook was not provided, so no actual-versus-prior-guidance comparison is available.
- Quarterly share repurchases and dividend payments for the 3 Mos. Ended 9/30/26 were not separately reported.
Written by an AI language model from the company’s SEC earnings filing (Form 8-K Item 2.02, or Form 6-K for a foreign private issuer). Every figure is checked against the filing text, and a metric the filing does not print, or whose value, prior period and change do not add up, is dropped from the metrics. The model can still misread a table, in the metrics or in the text, so check a number in the filing before you rely on it. Consensus estimates, price targets and share-price reactions are not shown because they are not in the filing. AI-generated research, not investment advice.