Calls

Source: S&P Capital IQ transcripts via Xpressfeed · latest indexed call 2026-07-24 · generated 2026-07-25.

Latest call digest

Verizon Communications Inc., Q2 2026 Earnings Call, Jul 24, 2026 · 2026-07-24T12:30:00

Q2 2026 (reported July 24, 2026) was the third quarter under CEO Dan Schulman and the most emphatic of the reset so far. Prepared remarks framed a 'structural and meaningful inflection': 184,000 postpaid phone net adds, consumer postpaid phone churn down to 84 basis points (a second consecutive sequential decline), mobility and broadband service revenue up 2.8%, adjusted EPS of $1.30 (up 6.6%) and free cash flow of $6.4 billion (up 24%). Management raised full-year guidance for mobility and broadband service revenue (to 2.5%-3%), adjusted EPS (to 6%-7%), free cash flow (to 9%-10% growth) and buybacks (to up to $4.5 billion) — the second straight quarter of raising components of the original guide. Three new items dominated: a mid-June consumer value proposition (Simplicity at $45, converged Verizon One at $70, and an all-customer loyalty program), a 50-50 international-wireline joint venture with BT Group, and a Google dark-fiber deal valued at over $1 billion positioned as the leading edge of an AI-infrastructure ('AI Connect') growth vector expected to contribute from 2027. The board also extended Schulman's contract through December 31, 2028.

The Q&A was narrower than prior calls — only four analysts — and largely tested durability rather than direction. Questioners probed which parts of the new go-to-market are resonating and with which cohorts, how service revenue is replaced as customer pain points (and their fees) are removed, the economics and capital needs of the hyperscale fiber opportunity, the softening fixed-wireless add trend and LEO-satellite competition, and whether the roughly 4% Q4 revenue growth rate is a fair starting point for 2027. Management stayed on message and deferred any formal 2027 guidance to the Q4 call.

Participant coverage from the latest call.

Group	Participants	Count
Management	Operator; Colleen Ostrowski — Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Verizon Communications Inc.; Daniel Schulman — Director & CEO, Verizon Communications Inc.; Anthony Skiadas — Executive VP & CFO, Verizon Communications Inc.	4
Analysts	Sean Diffley — Equity Analyst, Morgan Stanley, Research Division; Michael Rollins — MD & U.S. Telecoms Analyst, Citigroup Inc., Research Division; John Hodulik — MD, Sector Head of the United States Communications Group and Telco & Pay TV Analyst, UBS Investment Bank, Research Division; Michael Ng — Research Analyst, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division	4

Curated latest-call exchanges; one row per analyst topic.

Analyst	Firm	Topic	What changed in Q&A
Sean Diffley	Morgan Stanley	Competitive backdrop and new value proposition	Asked how the fall device launch might intensify competition and which parts of the new go-to-market resonate with which cohorts; management said it was 40 days into the launch, cited gross adds and new-account growth ahead of forecast, and argued the basis of competition is shifting away from subsidies.
Michael Rollins	Citigroup	Replacing service revenue and hyperscale fiber	Pressed on how removing customer pain points also removes revenue sources, and on the dark-vs-lit fiber and capex of the AI opportunity; CFO pointed to volume growth, peaking promo amortization and ARPA accretion, and the CEO detailed AI Connect as success-based capital.
John Hodulik	UBS	Fixed wireless trajectory and satellite competition	Flagged the downward FWA add trend and LEO-constellation broadband threat; management defended the mix shift toward fiber and argued satellite cannot match terrestrial density economics in urban/suburban areas and ruled out any MVNO backdoor for satellite players.
Michael Ng	Goldman Sachs	2027 revenue growth starting point	Asked whether the ~4% Q4 growth rate is a good jumping-off point for 2027 mobility and broadband service revenue; the CEO cited multiple structural tailwinds but declined to guide 2027 until the Q4 results call.

Theme tracker

Themes are curator-classified across supplied calls.

Theme	Status	Quarters mentioned	Read-through
Postpaid churn and retention as the core health metric	persisted	Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026	Churn ran through every call in the window. Under prior management it was framed as a transitory spike tied to price-ups; under Schulman it became the primary growth lever, improving from 95 bps (Q4 2025) to 90 bps (Q1 2026) to 84 bps consumer postpaid phone churn in Q2 2026.
Convergence (mobility plus broadband, Frontier)	persisted	Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026	A consistent strategic pillar; the Frontier acquisition (closed January 20, 2026) turned it into an execution story, with management repeatedly citing materially lower churn on converged cohorts.
AI infrastructure / AI Connect fiber monetization	persisted	Q4 2024, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026	Introduced by prior management in Q4 2024 as a sales funnel, it re-accelerated under Schulman and produced its first named material contract (Google, over $1 billion) in Q2 2026, reframed as an incremental 2027+ growth vector.
Cost transformation and multibillion OpEx/CapEx savings	emerged	Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026	New with the CEO change: a $5 billion 2026 OpEx target introduced in Q4 2025, expanded to at least $9 billion of combined OpEx and CapEx savings by Q2 2026, framed as a multiyear program.
Share buybacks and accelerated capital return	emerged	Q4 2025, Q1 2026, Q2 2026	Prior management treated buybacks as an eventual step after hitting leverage targets; Schulman announced a $25 billion authorization in Q4 2025, executed $2.5 billion in Q1 2026, and raised the 2026 target to up to $4.5 billion in Q2 2026.
Blunt price increases as a revenue lever	dropped	Q4 2024, Q1 2025	Prior management leaned on repeated price-ups to drive service revenue; the new team explicitly abandoned price increases without added value and now laps roughly 180 bps of prior-year pricing as a self-imposed revenue headwind.
Public-sector / federal government disconnect headwind	dropped	Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025	Recurred for a full year as a drag on business phone net adds tied to government efficiency efforts and a shutdown; by Q1-Q2 2026 management described the related disconnects as largely behind them and the topic fell away.

Guidance ledger

Quotes, calls, and speakers are source-verified; outcomes are curator-classified.

Verbatim guidance	Call	Speaker	Curator outcome	Outcome note
“targeting a range of 750,000 to 1 million postpaid phone net adds in 2026.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Jan 30, 2026 · 2026-01-30T13:00:00	Anthony Skiadas	pending	First-ever consolidated net-add guide; by Q2 2026 management said first-half adds put them on track for the upper half of the range, with the full year not yet complete.
“we expect adjusted EPS to be in the range of $4.90 to $4.95 for the full year, or year-over-year growth of 4% to 5%.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Jan 30, 2026 · 2026-01-30T13:00:00	Anthony Skiadas	pending	Subsequently raised to 5%-6% in Q1 2026 and to 6%-7% in Q2 2026; full-year 2026 outcome not yet reported.
“We expect free cash flow to be $21.5 billion or more, growing approximately 7% or more, which will mark our highest free cash flow generated since 2020.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Jan 30, 2026 · 2026-01-30T13:00:00	Anthony Skiadas	pending	Free cash flow growth guidance was later raised to 9%-10% in Q2 2026; full-year figure not yet reported.
“our Board has authorized up to $25 billion of share repurchases, which we expect to complete over the next 3 years with at least $3 billion of repurchases in 2026.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Jan 30, 2026 · 2026-01-30T13:00:00	Daniel Schulman	pending	The 2026 buyback floor of at least $3 billion was already exceeded by mid-year ($3.5 billion year-to-date), and the 2026 target was raised to up to $4.5 billion in Q2 2026.
“we are raising our guidance for adjusted EPS growth to 5% to 6% versus the prior range of 4% to 5%.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q1 2026 Earnings Call, Apr 27, 2026 · 2026-04-27T12:30:00	Daniel Schulman	pending	Raised again to 6%-7% in Q2 2026; full-year 2026 result not yet reported.
“For the full year, we are now guiding revenues to grow 2.5% to 3%, the upper half of our previous 2% to 3% range.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q2 2026 Earnings Call, Jul 24, 2026 · 2026-07-24T12:30:00	Daniel Schulman	pending	Raised from the original 2%-3% mobility and broadband service revenue guide; full-year outcome not yet reported.
“we are raising our full year guidance for free cash flow growth from approximately 7% or more growth to 9% to 10% growth.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q2 2026 Earnings Call, Jul 24, 2026 · 2026-07-24T12:30:00	Daniel Schulman	pending	Second increase to the free cash flow outlook; supported by first-half free cash flow of $10.2 billion, up 16% year-over-year.
“our Q4 mobility and broadband service revenue is now anticipated to grow at approximately 4% year-over-year.”	Verizon Communications Inc., Q2 2026 Earnings Call, Jul 24, 2026 · 2026-07-24T12:30:00	Daniel Schulman	pending	A forward quarterly acceleration target; Q4 2026 had not yet been reported in the supplied call history.

Q&A pressure map

Question counts and firms are curator tallies; analyst coverage shown above.

Topic	Questions	Firms	Pressure / response
New value proposition, churn and customer economics	6	Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley	The dominant line of questioning across the last three calls: how net-add growth is funded (churn versus promotion), how ARPA and service revenue hold up as fees and pain points are removed, and how the Simplicity/loyalty economics work. Management answered directly, leaning on lower cost of acquisition and retention and subsidy-free adds.
Broadband, fixed wireless and satellite competition	5	UBS, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan	Recurring pressure on the fiber-versus-FWA mix, the durability of the 8-9 million FWA target and LEO-satellite risk. Management reaffirmed the FWA target and argued satellite cannot compete on density economics.
Capital allocation, buyback cadence and CapEx efficiency	3	Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, UBS	Analysts probed how much CapEx could be cut without hurting the network and the multiyear buyback pace. On cadence beyond the stated at-least-$3 billion, management declined to commit to specifics, citing hypotheticals.
AI Connect / hyperscale fiber monetization	2	Morgan Stanley, Citigroup	An emerging area of questioning as management surfaced the opportunity; analysts sought sizing, timing and capital intensity, and management framed it as success-based capital with revenue starting in 2027.

Language shifts

Only language evidence verified against the referenced component is shown.

Observation	Verbatim evidence	Call ID	Component
The incoming CEO opened his first full strategy remarks with unusually blunt self-criticism, a sharp break from prior management's 'our strategy is working' register.	“Verizon is clearly falling short of our potential.”	1918115578	4
New, explicitly risk-aware vocabulary about the company's own prior playbook: the practice of raising prices without added value was recast as a mistake to stop, not a lever to pull.	“We will not rely on empty price increases to drive short-term revenue and earnings.”	1963016419	2
Confidence language escalated quarter over quarter, from a turnaround described as gaining momentum in Q1 2026 to a claimed structural inflection in Q2 2026.	“our transformation is driving a structural and meaningful inflection in our results”	1963016700	2
The AI framing intensified from 'AI-first' toward a more absolute ambition, signalling rising rhetorical commitment to the technology as a cost and revenue driver.	“I want us to be not an AI-first company, I want us to be an AI-native company.”	1963014798	23

The call history brackets a deliberate strategic reset: a new CEO arriving in late 2025 reframed Verizon from a price-led model to a volume- and retention-led one, and the two most recent quarters show churn, net adds and cash flow improving with guidance raised in each. The open question for the investment debate is durability — whether the new value-proposition economics hold, whether the promised AI-infrastructure revenue actually lands from 2027, and how much of the current optimism still rests on forward commitments rather than completed outcomes.