New York, June 27, 2026, 13:04 EDT
- Verizon gained 2.6% for the week, ending Friday at $46.54. Trading volume hit 156% of its 65-day average.
- The company picked up 82 AWS-3 licenses, paying $3.16 billion. That’s about 1.6% of its market cap and just over one quarter’s dividend by share count now.
- Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ:GOOGL will join the Dow, taking Verizon’s spot before the open on Monday. S&P Dow Jones Indices noted Verizon made up just 0.5% of the price-weighted index.
- Verizon is up next with its second-quarter earnings due July 24.
Verizon Communications Inc. NYSE:VZ wrapped up a busy week with its cash spending taking the spotlight. Shares rose as the company put down $3.16 billion for new mid-band spectrum, a figure close to what it pays out in dividends for a quarter. The move came after Verizon was dropped from the Dow.
Stock finished Friday at $46.54, rising 1.02% for the day and gaining 2.6% in five sessions. Trading volume hit 38.13 million shares, about 156% of its 65-day average, as investors weighed both the Dow removal and the FCC auction outcome.
Auction details point to clearer numbers than the index. Verizon picked up 82 AWS-3 licenses for $3.16 billion. T-Mobile US Inc. NASDAQ:TMUS ended with 102 licenses at $277.78 million. AT&T Inc. NYSE:T got 10 licenses for $120.77 million.
Verizon spent around $38.5 million per license on average, sharply higher than T-Mobile at about $2.7 million and AT&T’s $12.1 million. The numbers are rough since license values vary by market and coverage. But the spread shows Verizon targeted pricier city spectrum instead of going after more licenses overall.
Verizon picked up licenses in big areas like New York, Chicago and Boston. Analyst Craig Moffett at MoffettNathanson said the new licenses add “a meaningful amount of capacity,” Light Reading reported. Light Reading
Verizon is still trading as an income stock. The market cap was $194.33 billion at Friday’s close, and its $3.16 billion auction payment is about 1.6% of that. Verizon’s 4.2 billion common shares get a 70.75-cent quarterly dividend, with the total quarterly dividend payout coming to about $2.97 billion.
Verizon’s free cash flow is getting attention. The company posted $3.8 billion in first-quarter free cash flow and said net unsecured debt stood at $130.1 billion. Verizon stuck with its 2026 free cash flow floor of at least $21.5 billion. The AWS-3 auction bid comes out to about 15% of that target.
Dow shakeup is mostly symbolic. S&P Dow Jones Indices, which is part of S&P Global Inc. NYSE:SPGI, is moving Alphabet into the index in place of Verizon. The change hits before the open on Monday, June 29. S&P said Alphabet is now a better fit for Communication Services in the Dow. Verizon’s low stock price left it with just about half a percentage point of weight in the index.
Verizon NYSE:VZ comes out of the Dow to start the week. The company set July 10 as the record date for its 70.75-cent dividend. That payout is scheduled for Aug. 3. CEO Dan Schulman said the dividend promise is “ironclad” when the board declared the distribution June 4. Verizon
Verizon NYSE:VZ won’t release its full company update until next month. The company said on Friday it plans to post second-quarter earnings before the market opens on July 24. Results are set for 7:00 a.m. ET, with a webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET.
