Verizon Q3 2026 earnings: customer growth surges even as revenue falls short
Verizon's profit essentially matched Wall Street's forecast and core operating profit hit a record high, but revenue came in below estimates; the company raised its full-year outlook for a third straight quarter.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $1.31 | $1.31 | -0.1% |
| Revenue | $34.31B | $35.79B | -4.1% |
Key takeaways
- Verizon added 406,000 net new postpaid phone subscribers in the quarter — more than eight times its year-ago pace and its strongest third quarter in five years — while postpaid account additions of 137,000 were the best in over a decade, suggesting its pricing and network promotions are pulling in and keeping customers.
- Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a common measure of core operating profit) rose 8% year over year to $13.8 billion, the highest quarterly figure the company has reported, showing underlying profitability strengthened even though total revenue missed analyst forecasts.
- Cash from operations rose 2.2% to $11.5 billion, and free cash flow — the cash left after running the business and funding network and equipment spending — climbed 12.1% to $7.8 billion, cash Verizon can use to pay its dividend, pay down debt, or buy back stock.
- Verizon raised its full-year 2026 guidance for the third consecutive quarter: it now expects adjusted earnings per share to grow 7.0%-7.5% (up from a prior 6%-7% target), free cash flow growth to approach 12% (up from 9%-10%), and full-year postpaid phone net additions to reach 1.1-1.2 million, above its previous range.
- Trailing-twelve-month operating margin (20.6%) and net profit margin (11.6%) point to steady, moderate profitability, while revenue over that same period grew just 1.4% — underscoring that this quarter’s subscriber surge marks an acceleration rather than a continuation of a strong recent trend.
- Trailing-twelve-month earnings per share were still down nearly 11% from a year earlier even after this quarter’s results, a reminder that one strong quarter has not yet fully offset weaker earnings earlier in the period.
- Despite the record core profit and raised guidance, quarterly revenue of roughly $34.3 billion came in below the roughly $35.8 billion Wall Street had expected, continuing a pattern in which Verizon’s top-line growth has lagged its profit and cash-flow gains.
Q3 2026 in context
| Metric | Sep 2026 | Sep 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $34.3B | $33.8B | +1.5% |
| Net income | $5.2B | $5.0B | +5.0% |
| Free cash flow | $7.8B | $7.0B | +12.1% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.25 | $1.17 | +6.8% |
| Operating margin | 25.2% | 24.0% | +1.2 pts |
| Net margin | 15.1% | 14.6% | +0.5 pts |
Figures for the quarter ended Sep 2026 and the quarter ended Sep 2025, as reported to the SEC.
How the stock took it
Verizon Communications Inc closed at $44.66 on Oct 23, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $43.93 on Oct 27, 2026, the first session after it — -1.6% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 59.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 20.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 11.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 15.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $3.84 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 1.4% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -10.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 15.5% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · our verified fundamentals data