Verizon Stock: Verizon Earnings Beat, Revenue Misses. New CEO Promises Big Changes.

Verizon Communications (VZ) on Wednesday reported third-quarter adjusted earnings that beat Wall Street targets while missing revenue amid the sudden change in CEOs. Verizon stock rose on the news.

The telco continued to lose market share for wireless subscribers amid intense competition but added more postpaid phone subscribers overall than expected.

Also, Verizon reiterated 2025 guidance and announced an earnings increase.

For the period ended Sept. 30, Verizon’s earnings were $1.21 per share on an adjusted basis, excluding one-time items, up two cents from a year earlier. Revenues rose 1.5% to $33.8 billion.

Analysts expected Verizon earnings of $1.19 per share, on revenue of $34.26 billion, according to FactSet.

Verizon Stock: Consumer Business

In the third quarter, Verizon said it added 44,000 subscribers to its postpaid wireless phone service overall, though its consumer business lost 7,000 subscribers, versus estimates of an increase of 19,000 subscribers. Pay-per-month phone subscribers are the highest spending wireless subscribers.

Meanwhile, Verizon said it added 261,000 5G wireless broadband customers. At the end of September, it had 5.4 million 5G broadband subscribers.

EBITDA was $11.23 billion, compared to estimates of $12.73 billion.

The outlook for Verizon’s consumer wireless business has been key for investors. Competition will intensify in 2025, putting pressure on profit margins, Wall Street analysts say.

AT&T (T), Verizon and T-Mobile (TMUS) has increased support on mobile phones amid apple(AAPL) has introduced the higher-priced iPhone 17 models. Wireless carriers have stepped up phone trade-in promotions that offer consumers buyouts if they terminate contracts.

In the third quarter, T-Mobile added 841,000 postpaid phone subscribers while AT&T added 405,000 subscribers.

Verizon CEO change

In a surprise move, Verizon on October 6 named Dan Schulman as CEO. He replaced Hans Vestberg. Shulman served as CEO of the company PayPal Holdings (PYPL) and Virgin Mobile.

In a statement, Shulman promised to make big changes.

“We will aggressively transform our culture, cost structure and financial profile of Verizon in order to put our customers first, compete effectively and generate sustainable returns for our shareholders,” Schulman said.

Verizon acquisition deal Border communications (FYBR) for $20 billion in cash and is expected to close in early 2026.

Verizon shares

Before the stock market opened today, shares rose 3.3% to 40.61. Verizon shares fell 2% in 2025 before the earnings report. VZ stock fell in October, hitting a nine-month low last week.

Verizon stock carries a composite rating of 25 out of 99, according to IBD Stock Screener. The score combines five separate property ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.

Also, Verizon stock has an Accumulation/Distribution rating of E. This rating analyzes price and volume changes in the stock over the past 13 weeks of trading. Its current rating indicates that more funds are buying than selling. The rating, on a scale from A+ to E, measures institutional buying and selling in a stock. A+ indicates heavy institutional buying, while C is neutral.

Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech For updates on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.

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