Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone subscribers in the second quarter of 2026, well above the 106,000 analyst consensus forecast, and raised its full-year guidance for the second quarter in a row. Quartz noted the year-ago quarter, when Verizon was shedding postpaid phone subscribers rather than adding them.
Adjusted earnings came in at $1.30 per share, up 6.6% year over year and past the Zacks consensus of $1.27. Revenue of $34.25 billion fell 0.7% and missed the $35.26 billion estimate. Verizon said equipment revenue dropped more than $1.2 billion, or nearly 20%, because customers are holding devices longer and the company is cutting device subsidies. Mobility and broadband service revenue rose 2.8% to about $23.4 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA reached a record $13.7 billion, and the margin expanded to 40.1% from 37.1% a year earlier. GAAP net income fell 22.9% to $3.95 billion, which Verizon tied to $1.8 billion of pretax special charges covering business dispositions, asset rationalization, and severance.
CEO Dan Schulman said the results provide "clear, compelling evidence that this transformation is driving a structural inflection point across our entire business." He credited new consumer offers launched in mid-June, including a $45 Simplicity plan that separates device subsidies from wireless pricing and a $70 Verizon One bundle of mobility and broadband. Consumer postpaid phone churn was 0.84%, down from 0.90% in the first quarter.
The raised outlook and the specifics:
- Full-year adjusted EPS growth of 6% to 7%, versus a prior range of about $4.90 to $4.95.
- Free cash flow growth of 9% to 10%, up from about 7% or more.
- A share buyback target of up to $4.5 billion, raised from at least $3 billion.
Schulman also pointed to AI infrastructure connectivity, including a deal valued at more than $1 billion with Google to use Verizon dark fiber to connect data centers. He said the initiative is expected to begin contributing noticeably to revenue in 2027.