On its Q4 2025 earnings call, Verizon outlined a comprehensive turnaround strategy designed to restore network reliability and drive sustainable growth. CEO Dan Schulman acknowledged a recent service outage and committed to a ‘‘relentless’’ reliability improvement program. The company has already begun rightsizing its workforce by eliminating underperforming layers and reallocating resources to accelerate customer experience initiatives. Verizon described the next phase as critical to rebuilding brand trust through faster execution, simplified offerings and enhanced operational efficiency.

CFO Tony Skiadas reported that Verizon achieved its full-year guidance for adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EPS and free cash flow. In Q4 alone, the company added over 1 million net new connections across mobility and broadband—the highest quarterly volume in six years. Breaking this down, Verizon delivered 616,000 postpaid phone net additions (including 551,000 consumer lines) and 372,000 broadband adds (319,000 fixed wireless access, 67,000 Fios Internet). Full-year free cash flow reached $20.1 billion, supported by $37.1 billion in operating cash flow and $17 billion in capital spending.

The closing of the Frontier deal has vaulted Verizon’s fiber footprint to more than 30 million passings, creating significant cross-sell opportunities in under-penetrated wireless markets. Management now targets at least 2 million additional fiber passings in 2026, with a medium-term goal of 40–50 million. Integration synergies have been revised upward, with expected run-rate operating cost savings of over $1 billion by 2028—double the prior estimate—stemming from network consolidation, contract efficiencies and streamlined go-to-market efforts. In Q4, Frontier itself delivered 125,000 fiber net adds, up 29% year-over-year.

Verizon positioned 2026 as a transitional year with guidance for 750,000 to 1 million postpaid phone net adds—roughly double the 2025 total—and 2%–3% mobility and broadband service revenue growth, equating to about $93 billion. Adjusted EPS is projected at $4.90–$4.95, reflecting mid-single-digit growth, while free cash flow is guided to at least $21.5 billion. Capital expenditures are expected at $16–16.5 billion, $4 billion below combined 2025 levels. The board has approved a dividend increase of $0.07 per share (2.5% year-over-year) and up to $25 billion in share repurchases over three years, including at least $3 billion in 2026.