Published: December 7, 2025
Where Verizon Stock Stands Today
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) closed the latest trading session at about $41–42 per share, with a 52‑week range of roughly $37.59 to $47.36. Over the past 12 months, the stock is down about 1.6%, lagging the broader U.S. equity market but outperforming its own five‑year history, where shares remain roughly 30% below their level five years ago. [1]
At these prices, Verizon trades on a price‑to‑earnings multiple around 9x and offers a dividend yield close to 6.6–6.7%, based on the recently declared quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share. [2]
For investors watching Verizon stock on December 7, 2025, the picture is clear: this is still very much a high‑yield, low‑growth telecom that is trying to reboot its growth story through 5G, broadband and aggressive cost cuts.
New CEO, Major Job Cuts and a Culture Overhaul
One of the biggest drivers of sentiment around Verizon in late 2025 is leadership change and restructuring.
- In October 2025, Verizon’s board appointed Dan Schulman, former CEO of PayPal and a telecom veteran, as Verizon’s new Chief Executive Officer. Hans Vestberg moved into a special advisor role through 2026, and Mark Bertolini became Chairman of the Board. [3]
- Schulman has framed Verizon as being at a “critical juncture,” promising a customer‑first culture, leaner cost base and more disciplined capital allocation to “redefine Verizon’s trajectory.” [4]
The cultural shift is coming with painful cuts:
- In a November open letter titled “Building a stronger Verizon,” Schulman told employees the company would reduce its workforce by more than 13,000 roles and sharply cut outsourced labor. He also announced a $20 million Reskilling and Career Transition Fund to support affected staff and stressed that being “customer‑first” and “cost‑conscious” would now be “a way of life.” [5]
- Separate data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, cited by Reuters, shows that telecommunications providers — “primarily Verizon” — led announced U.S. job cuts in November, part of a broader wave of corporate restructuring across the economy.
For the stock, these moves signal a deep restructuring story: near‑term restructuring charges and morale risks on one side, and potentially higher margins and stronger free cash flow on the other.
Third‑Quarter 2025 Earnings: Profits Up, Growth Modest
Verizon’s 3Q 2025 results, reported on October 29, set the financial backdrop for today’s news flow. [6]
Key highlights:
- Revenue: $33.8 billion, up 1.5% year‑over‑year, but slightly below Wall Street expectations.
- Adjusted EPS: $1.21, a small beat versus consensus and up from $1.19 a year earlier.
- Net income: About $5.1 billion, up nearly 50% from the prior‑year quarter, thanks to improved operations and lapping one‑time items. [7]
- Wireless service revenue: $21.0 billion, up 2.1% year‑over‑year, an important metric given the company’s focus on premium postpaid customers. [8]
- Free cash flow (first nine months): $15.8 billion, versus $14.5 billion in the same period of 2024. [9]
On the broadband and 5G side:
- Verizon added 306,000 broadband net additions in Q3.
- Fixed wireless access (FWA) — Verizon’s 5G home and business internet product — contributed 261,000 net adds, bringing the base to nearly 5.4 million FWA subscribers. [10]
- Fiber‑based Fios internet added 61,000 net subscribers, the best quarterly result in two years, and total broadband connections grew more than 11% year‑over‑year to 13.2 million. [11]
Verizon reiterated its full‑year 2025 guidance, including:
- Wireless service revenue growth of 2.0–2.8%,
- Adjusted EBITDA growth of 2.5–3.5%,
- Adjusted EPS growth of 1–3%,
- Free cash flow of $19.5–20.5 billion. [12]
24/7 Wall St. contrasted Verizon’s results with Lumen Technologies, highlighting Verizon’s $5.06 billion quarterly profit and long dividend track record versus Lumen’s continued losses, reinforcing the idea of Verizon as a cash‑generative incumbent rather than a turnaround story. [13]
5G, FWA and Frontier: Growth Engine or Structural Headwind?
The big strategic question now: can Verizon turn its network assets into sustained growth?
FWA momentum is slowing
Light Reading notes that while Verizon still “loves” its FWA business, subscriber growth is clearly decelerating:
- Q3 2025: 261,000 FWA net adds, down from 363,000 a year earlier and 275,000 in Q2 2025 — the lowest quarterly additions since shortly after launch in 2022. [14]
- Total FWA base: about 5.38 million customers (roughly 3.2 million residential and 2.2 million business). [15]
Analysts quoted by Light Reading describe the slowdown as “striking,” especially as AT&T and T‑Mobile are still accelerating FWA additions. [16]
At the same time, FWA revenue jumped about 35% year‑over‑year to roughly $758 million, indicating that the product is still expanding, but the growth curve is flattening. [17]
Pivot towards fiber and convergence
To sustain broadband growth, Verizon is leaning harder into fiber and convergence:
- The company is pursuing a planned acquisition of Frontier Communications’ fiber assets, expected to close in early 2026, alongside a partnership with Tillman’s Eaton Fiber to sell Fios‑branded services beyond Verizon’s legacy footprint. [18]
- Analysis from AInvest describes management’s 2028 targets as including 35–40 million fiber passings and a doubling of FWA subscribers to 8–9 million, with the Frontier acquisition expected to add 9–10 million passings and significantly raise cross‑sell opportunities with mobile customers. [19]
AInvest’s December 2 note, “Verizon: Growth Engine Not a Value Trap – The Math Is Solid,” argues that:
- Wireless service revenue growth around 2.1%, combined with an 11% broadband connection increase, supports Verizon’s $19.5–20.5 billion free cash flow target and the recent dividend hike. [20]
- However, the FWA slowdown and intense price competition from AT&T and T‑Mobile heighten margin risks, making execution on fiber expansion and convergence crucial to the bull case. [21]
In short: Verizon still has real growth levers in 5G and broadband, but the easy phase of FWA growth appears to be over, and the heavy lifting shifts to fiber build‑out, integration of Frontier, and careful pricing.
Dividend Yield, Debt and Balance Sheet: Income Play Under Pressure
For many investors, Verizon is first and foremost a dividend stock.
Dividend latest: 19th consecutive annual increase
On December 4, 2025, Verizon’s board declared another quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, payable February 2, 2026, to shareholders of record on January 12. The payout is unchanged from the prior quarter and marks the 19th straight year that Verizon has raised or maintained its annual dividend payout. [22]
Verizon’s own dividend history page shows a 2025 total of $2.735 per share, up from $2.685 in 2024, continuing a pattern of modest, steady increases. [23]
With the stock around the low‑$40s, that equates to a yield in the mid‑6% range, one of the higher payouts in the S&P 500. [24]
Debt reduction and note redemptions
Verizon is also trying to chip away at its heavy debt load, much of it accumulated during 5G spectrum auctions:
- As of Q3 2025, the company reported about $119.7 billion in total unsecured debt and net unsecured debt of around $112 billion, with net unsecured debt to adjusted EBITDA at 2.2x. [25]
- On November 3, Verizon announced plans to redeem several tranches of notes due 2026 and 2027 — including $825.8 million of 1.45% 2026 notes and portions of 4.125% and 3.0% notes due 2027 — on December 16, 2025, continuing a program of opportunistic debt reduction. [26]
Analysts at AInvest describe the debt profile as “manageable” given the cash flow, but emphasize that maintaining the dividend while investing heavily in 5G and fiber will require disciplined capital allocation. [27]
What Wall Street and Models Say About Verizon Stock
Consensus rating: “Hold,” modest upside
A fresh December 6 round‑up from MarketBeat reports that:
- 21 research firms currently cover Verizon;
- The consensus recommendation is “Hold”, with 13 Hold, 6 Buy and 2 Strong Buy ratings;
- The average 12‑month price target is about $47.41, implying mid‑teens percentage upside from recent trading levels. [28]
Simply Wall St’s valuation model estimates a fair value around $47.53 per share, suggesting VZ is roughly 12% below intrinsic value, though the site also notes modest expected revenue growth (around 1–2% annually). [29]
Longer‑term growth expectations
A governance‑focused analysis of the leadership shake‑up from Simply Wall St highlights that:
- Management is guiding toward revenue of about $144.5 billion by 2028, which implies annualized growth of around 1.8% from current levels — essentially a low‑growth, high‑cash‑flow trajectory. [30]
AInvest’s recent series of AI‑assisted notes synthesizes the bullish case this way:
- Verizon’s wireless dominance and expanding broadband footprint remain core strengths;
- The Frontier acquisition and fiber partnerships are key to long‑term convergence and cross‑sell opportunities;
- But the company faces execution risk, especially around integrating Frontier, stabilizing FWA growth and keeping debt and capex in balance. [31]
Viewed together, current research positions Verizon as:
A yield‑heavy, moderately undervalued incumbent with limited but real growth options, whose success hinges on Schulman’s restructuring and broadband strategy.
Big Money Flows: Mixed Messages From Institutions
On December 7, MarketBeat flagged two notable 13F filings that landed at the same time and point in opposite directions:
- Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its Verizon stake by 185,332 shares, a 1.3% reduction, leaving it with about 13.78 million shares valued near $596 million. Verizon remains one of Federated Hermes’ top ten holdings, representing about 1.1% of its portfolio and roughly 0.33% of Verizon’s shares outstanding. [32]
- The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), by contrast, boosted its Verizon position by 21.5%, adding 3.74 million shares in Q2. CalPERS now holds about 21.16 million shares, worth around $915.6 million, making Verizon its 23rd‑largest position (~0.6% of the fund and roughly 0.5% of Verizon’s equity). [33]
Both filings also highlight the appeal of Verizon’s 6.6% dividend yield and the consensus “Hold” rating with the same $47.41 average price target mentioned above, underscoring that institutional investors see both income and risk in the story. [34]
Legal Overhang Eases: Straight Path Case Resolved
A quieter but positive development for shareholder risk came from the Delaware Supreme Court in early December:
- The Court affirmed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s dismissal of all claims against IDT Corporation in litigation related to the 2017 sale of Straight Path Communications to Verizon for $3.1 billion. Multiple summaries note that the courts found Straight Path shareholders suffered no damages from the settlement challenged in the case.
- GuruFocus characterized the decision as “favoring Verizon” in the Straight Path dispute and noted that it removes a perceived legal overhang tied to the acquisition.
While Verizon was not the defendant in the appeal, the ruling reduces headline and litigation risk around a past M&A transaction and is generally seen as incrementally positive for the stock’s risk profile.
Competitive Landscape and Customer Offers
Verizon remains locked in a three‑way battle with AT&T and T‑Mobile across wireless, home internet, and device promotions.
Recent developments include:
- A widely covered holiday promotion where Verizon is offering up to four iPhone 17 Pro devices “for free” (via bill credits) on its Welcome Unlimited plan — four lines for $100 per month, with no trade‑in required. TechRadar describes it as one of Verizon’s best deals of the year, illustrating how far carriers now go on handset subsidies to attract multi‑line families. [35]
- Light Reading and TelecomLead note that while Verizon’s FWA growth has slowed, AT&T and T‑Mobile are still seeing accelerating FWA additions, raising competitive pressure in home broadband and putting a spotlight on how Verizon balances pricing discipline with subscriber growth. [36]
In this environment, Schulman has signaled that Verizon will not chase unsustainable promotions that spike churn when discounts roll off, preferring “sustainable growth” even if it means slower headline subscriber numbers. [37]
Key Risks for Verizon Stock
Investors tracking VZ on December 7, 2025 should keep several downside risks in mind:
- Execution risk on restructuring and job cuts
- Over 13,000 roles are being eliminated. If the restructuring undermines service quality or employee morale, it could hurt customer satisfaction and brand perception, offsetting cost savings. [38]
- Heavy leverage and capex needs
- With unsecured debt near $120 billion and ongoing 5G and fiber capex in the high‑teens billions annually, Verizon must continue generating strong free cash flow to support both the dividend and network investments. [39]
- Slowing FWA growth and pricing pressure
- The 8‑quarter low in FWA net adds could signal market saturation, competitive pricing pressure, or both. If FWA growth stalls while capex remains high, the return on network investment could disappoint. [40]
- Integration risk for Frontier and other deals
- The Frontier acquisition, expected to close in early 2026, will test Verizon’s ability to integrate networks and operations without major disruptions or cost overruns. [41]
- Muted top‑line growth expectations
- Consensus and modelled forecasts point to low‑single‑digit revenue growth (around 1–2% annually) over the next several years, leaving little room for error if margin initiatives or broadband growth fall short. [42]
What to Watch Next
Looking ahead from December 7, 2025, key catalysts for Verizon stock include:
- Q4 2025 earnings: Verizon is slated to report on January 30, 2026, with investors focused on postpaid phone churn, FWA and Fios net additions, early restructuring impacts, and updated 2026 guidance. [43]
- Details of Schulman’s full transformation plan, expected to be fleshed out in early 2026, including long‑term margin targets, specific product exits, and updated capital allocation priorities. [44]
- Regulatory progress on the Frontier transaction and any additional spectrum or fiber deals. [45]
- Further debt actions, including note redemptions and refinancing that could lower interest expense and gradually improve leverage. [46]
For now, Verizon remains a classic telecom income stock in the middle of a major shake‑up: high yield, modest growth, a new CEO with a mandate to cut costs and re‑ignite customer focus, and a market that is cautiously optimistic but not yet convinced.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or trading advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed professional before making investment decisions.
References
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