New York, January 5, 2026, 20:05 (EST) — Market closed
- Verizon shares closed down 0.7% at $40.23, lagging U.S. wireless peers.
- The company’s next 69-cent quarterly dividend goes ex-dividend on Jan. 12.
- Verizon is set to report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 30, with a webcast at 8 a.m. ET.
Verizon Communications Inc shares ended Monday down 0.7% at $40.23, underperforming a broad Wall Street rally that lifted the Dow to a record high.
The move matters for Verizon holders because the telecom stock trades largely as an income play, with a quarterly dividend that implies an annualized yield of about 6.9% at Monday’s close. With the next dividend and the fourth-quarter report both on the near-term calendar, small shifts in rate expectations and risk appetite can move the stock at the margin.
In the wider market, investors chased banks and energy shares on Monday, while defensive, high-dividend names struggled to keep pace, according to Reuters. Traders are also looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. jobs report, a key test for the interest-rate outlook in 2026.
Verizon traded between $39.83 and $40.51 in the regular session, leaving the stock hovering around the $40 level that many investors treat as a near-term support zone. The shares finished 29 cents below Friday’s close of $40.52.
U.S. wireless peers held up better. AT&T ended up about 0.7% while T-Mobile rose about 0.6%, based on late quotes.
Verizon’s board declared a quarterly dividend of 69 cents a share, payable Feb. 2 to shareholders of record on Jan. 12, the company said. “The dividend is an iron clad reflection of that commitment,” CEO Dan Schulman said in the release. Verizon+1
The Jan. 12 ex-dividend date marks the point when new buyers no longer qualify for the payout; shares often fall by roughly the dividend amount on that date, all else equal. With the stock near $40, the quarterly payout equates to $2.76 a year.
Verizon is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Friday, Jan. 30, and will host a webcast at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, the company said. Investors typically listen for updates on wireless subscriber trends, promotional intensity and free cash flow, which underpins dividend coverage.
A second thread for 2026 is fiber expansion. Verizon agreed to buy Frontier in an all-cash transaction valued at about $20 billion of enterprise value, a deal it has pitched as a way to expand its fiber footprint.
Macro data could also steer trading in dividend-heavy sectors this week. The Labor Department’s Employment Situation report for December is due Friday, and investors often use it to reassess how quickly the Federal Reserve might cut rates.
But Verizon’s “bond proxy” status can cut both ways: a hotter jobs report or any renewed bout of pricing pressure in wireless can weigh on the shares by lifting yields or raising worries about margins and cash generation.
Next up, traders will watch Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, Verizon’s Jan. 12 ex-dividend date, and the company’s Jan. 30 earnings report and webcast.
