FY2026 Earnings Forecast for VZ Issued By Zacks Research

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Verizon Communications in a research note issued on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research analyst Team now anticipates that the cell phone carrier will earn $4.80 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.82. The consensus estimate for Verizon Communications’ current full-year earnings is $4.69 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Verizon Communications’ Q4 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.17 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.03 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Verizon Communications from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verizon Communications from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.25.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE VZ opened at $38.95 on Monday. Verizon Communications has a twelve month low of $38.35 and a twelve month high of $47.35. The firm has a market cap of $164.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verizon Communications

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Verizon Communications in the second quarter worth $2,504,150,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 3.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 215,490,064 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $9,470,788,000 after buying an additional 7,276,809 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Verizon Communications by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,512,228 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock valued at $637,812,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905,101 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 372,787,016 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $16,130,494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,615,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,159,040 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $915,552,000 after acquiring an additional 3,743,892 shares during the last quarter. 62.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verizon Communications Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 12th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.97%.

Verizon Communications News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Verizon Communications this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Regulatory approvals complete for Frontier acquisition — Verizon expects the transaction to close Jan. 20, bringing roughly 30 million fiber passings and enabling cross‑selling of fiber and 5G services, which could materially expand growth runway and ARPU over time. GlobeNewswire: Approvals to Complete Transaction
• Neutral Sentiment: AST SpaceMobile wins Pentagon contract — headlines lifted ASTS shares and remind investors Verizon has partnerships with LEO satellite providers, which could support future wholesale or coverage initiatives, but the news is primarily a catalyst for ASTS rather than VZ. MarketBeat: Pentagon Deal Sends AST SpaceMobile Soaring
• Negative Sentiment: Widespread outage and $20 customer credits — a multi‑hour nationwide outage tied to a software issue triggered customer complaints and scrutiny; Verizon is offering a $20 redeemable credit to affected users, which raises short‑term costs and reputational risk and has prompted calls for mandatory refunds. This outage is the principal near‑term negative driving sentiment. Investopedia: Why Verizon Customers Are Getting $20 Payouts
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price‑target cut — Sanford C. Bernstein trimmed its VZ target from $46 to $44 and moved to Market Perform, signaling more cautious near‑term expectations; the change tempers upside in the short term. TickerReport / Benzinga: Analyst Price Target Cut

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) is a major U.S.-based telecommunications company that provides a broad range of communications and information services. Its operations span consumer and business markets, with core offerings that include wireless voice and data services, fixed-line broadband and fiber-optic services, and enterprise networking solutions. Verizon is headquartered in New York City and operates a nationwide wireless network that supports consumer subscribers as well as business and government customers.

The company’s consumer products include mobile phone plans, unlimited data services, and Fios, its branded fiber-optic internet, television and voice service for homes and small businesses.