What Happened?
Shares of telecommunications giant Verizon (NYSE: VZ) jumped 3% in the morning session after the company reported decent first-quarter results that saw profits top Wall Street estimates.
For the quarter, Verizon posted an adjusted earnings per share of $1.28, which was 5.8% above analysts' expectations. This bottom-line beat seemed to outweigh concerns about revenue, which grew 2.9% year-on-year to $34.44 billion but missed the consensus estimate.
On a more positive note, Wireless retail postpaid phone net additions of +55K were above consensus of -84K. While the company's overall results were considered mixed due to the revenue miss, the better-than-expected profitability and growing subscription count were positive signs for investors, driving the stock higher in morning trading.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $47.92, up 3.3% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Verizon’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 2 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 9 months ago when the stock gained 5.1% on the news that the company reported second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year financial guidance.
The company announced it now expects full-year free cash flow to be between $19.5 billion and $20.5 billion, a significant increase from the previous forecast of $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion. Free cash flow, which is the cash left over after a company pays for its operating expenses and capital expenditures, is a key metric for investors, particularly for a high-dividend stock like Verizon. For the quarter, Verizon reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.22 on revenue of $34.5 billion, beating analyst expectations. The company also raised the lower end of its forecast for full-year adjusted earnings growth. While the company saw a net loss in postpaid phone subscribers, a closely watched metric, the strong financial outlook and improved cash flow forecast appeared to outweigh those concerns for investors.
Verizon is up 18.3% since the beginning of the year, and at $47.92 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $51.38 from March 2026. Despite the year-to-date gain, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Verizon’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $850.76.
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