Verizon raises 2026 outlook again as postpaid phone additions jump to 406,000

Verizon raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the third quarter in a row on Monday after adding 406,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the third quarter, its strongest third-quarter showing in five years, according to its earnings release.

The carrier now expects 1.1 million to 1.2 million postpaid phone net additions for 2026, up from the upper half of a prior range of 750,000 to 1 million. It also lifted its adjusted EPS outlook to $5.04 to $5.06, or 7% to 7.5% growth, from 6% to 7% growth, the company said in an 8-K.

Third-quarter EPS was $1.25, up 6.8% from $1.17 a year earlier. Adjusted EPS, which excludes special items, rose 8.3% to $1.31.

Total operating revenue rose 1.5% to $34.3 billion. Mobility and broadband service revenue grew 2.9% to about $23.5 billion, partly offset by a 9% drop in equipment revenue that Verizon tied mainly to lower upgrade volumes and its decision to cut spending on device subsidies.

Fewer subsidies, wider margins

Consolidated net income rose 5.2% to $5.3 billion. Adjusted EBITDA grew 8% to $13.8 billion, and adjusted EBITDA margin widened to 40.2% from 37.8%, both the highest Verizon has reported, according to the release.

Postpaid phone churn improved 4 basis points to 0.94%, and promotional cost of acquisition fell 41% year over year, the company said. Verizon also added 137,000 postpaid net accounts, its best result in more than a decade.

"Verizon delivered another record-breaking quarter," CEO Dan Schulman said in the release. "One year into our transformation, Verizon is fundamentally stronger — operationally, financially, and competitively."

Verizon said it still expects fiber passings to exceed 32 million by year-end. It also said it signed an agreement valued at more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services to scale distributed compute for AI workloads.

Cash and capital returns

Free cash flow was $7.8 billion in the quarter, up 12.1%. Verizon now expects full-year free cash flow growth to approach 12%, up from a prior range of 9% to 10%.

In the first nine months, Verizon returned $12.8 billion to shareholders, including $8.8 billion of dividends and $4 billion of buybacks, and it still expects to repurchase up to $4.5 billion for the full year. Net unsecured debt fell to $123.7 billion from $128.7 billion at the end of the second quarter.

By the numbers

• 406,000: postpaid phone net additions
• 314,000: broadband net additions, including 155,000 fiber
• $34.3 billion: total operating revenue, up 1.5%
• $1.31: adjusted EPS, up 8.3%
• $7.8 billion: free cash flow, up 12.1%
• $5.04 to $5.06: new full-year adjusted EPS guidance

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