NEW YORK, Feb 4, 2026, 13:00 (EST) — Regular session
Verizon Communications Inc shares were up 1.3% at $46.85 in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, even as the S&P 500 ETF fell about 0.9% and the Nasdaq 100 tracker slid more than 2%. About 19 million Verizon shares had changed hands by 12:45 p.m. ET.
The move keeps Verizon near a one-year high after a string of gains that has pushed the stock back into favor with income and defensive buyers. Verizon closed up 3.7% on Tuesday for a fifth straight advance, with volume running well above its 50-day average, MarketWatch data showed.
That resilience comes as the company faces fresh political heat over network security. Senator Maria Cantwell said on Tuesday that Verizon and AT&T were blocking the release of security assessment documents tied to “Salt Typhoon,” an alleged Chinese cyber-espionage operation, and urged their CEOs to testify before Congress. Reuters
Investors have largely stayed focused on last week’s results and guidance, which kicked off the rally. Verizon on Jan. 30 forecast annual profit and free cash flow — cash left after capital spending — above expectations after reporting its biggest quarterly postpaid phone additions in six years; postpaid customers are billed after they use service. CEO Dan Schulman said, “Verizon will no longer be a hunting ground for our competitors,” while MoffettNathanson analysts said the recent Frontier closing put Verizon’s fiber footprint close to AT&T’s. Reuters
Wall Street has also been nudging estimates higher. JPMorgan analyst Sebastiano Petti raised his price target on Verizon to $49 from $47 while keeping a neutral stance, according to GuruFocus.
An SEC filing laid out what the company is offering shareholders as it tries to rebuild credibility. Verizon said it aims to return about $55 billion through the end of 2028 via dividends and repurchases, declared a quarterly dividend of $0.7075 a share payable May 1, and said it expects to buy back at least $3 billion of stock in 2026 under a $25 billion authorization.
The company’s leadership shuffle is still playing out. The Financial Times reported Verizon has been sounding out candidates to replace consumer chief Sowmyanarayan Sampath, adding to management changes since Schulman took the top job.
Verizon’s peers were higher too on Wednesday, with AT&T up about 2.3% and T-Mobile up about 2.6%, helping lift the telecom group while much of the market sagged.
But the cyber issue is not going away, and any hearing date would put executives back under a bright light. In a Senate Commerce Committee release, Cantwell said the companies’ lack of cooperation raised questions about whether users “remain exposed to unacceptable risk,” and pointed to expert testimony warning the breach may not be fully remediated. Senate Commerce Committee
Next up: traders are watching for any move by the Commerce Committee on a hearing timetable and for U.S. macro data that can swing rate-sensitive stocks. The Labor Department’s January employment report has been delayed by the recent shutdown and is now due on Feb. 11.
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