MW Verizon is coming off its best quarter in 15 years. Can it sustain that momentum?
By Hannah Pedone
Verizon has benefited from a flight to safety and from strong initial reception to a new corporate direction. But progress 'still needs to be proven over multiple quarters.'
Verizon and other telecommunications companies are making changes to the sorts of metrics they report.
For investors seeking out safer bets this year, the defensive nature of the wireless sector has held appeal. That helped propel Verizon Communications shares to their best quarter on record - but it remains to be seen whether they can keep the gains going.
The recent telecommunications momentum shouldn't be too surprising, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett noted recently. There's been a "flight from risk" in the wake of the Iran war and jitters about artificial intelligence's impact on software-linked stocks.
There are also some more company-specific issues at play. Verizon $(VZ)$ reported a massive subscriber beat in its last earnings report, offering hope that the company is turning things around after years of disappointing performance.
Shares of Verizon rose 23.3% in the first three months of the year, making for their largest quarterly gain since the September quarter of 2010, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The iShares U.S. Telecommunications ETF IYZ rose 16% in the latest quarter.
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Under new CEO Dan Schulman, Verizon is undergoing an "operational reset," Baptista Research analyst Ishan Majumdar told MarketWatch. He said that Schulman's focus on cost-cutting and simplifying plans for customers could help inject stability into the business if Verizon executes well.
"While it's far too premature to wave the victory flag" or "get complacent on wireless-industry health," Evercore ISI analyst Kutgun Maral told MarketWatch that he sees positive early signs that the company's new strategy is bearing fruit. Verizon's recent financial outlook, he added, is "more than reassuring."
But assessing Verizon's progress will be a murkier task going forward, as telecommunications companies are moving to change the way they present metrics to investors.
Verizon recently announced that the company will no longer report wireless and wireline revenues separately, nor separate business and consumer subscriber metrics, Moffett noted. T-Mobile $(TMUS)$ also said it will no longer report individual subscriber numbers, instead shifting its focus to account counts. And AT&T $(T)$ said it will eventually stop disclosing earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for its wireless segment.
Moffett believes these changes will "certainly not" result in greater transparency.
He said that it's ironic that Verizon and other industry stocks have been on a "(relative) tear" given the companies are walking back disclosures. Given rising oil prices and geopolitics, the subscriber reporting changes aren't front of mind for investors now, he believes. But it's still up for debate whether Verizon and its competitors will "pay a price" for what will be "sharply reduced disclosure going forward."
Majumdar added that the company's momentum "still needs to be proven over multiple quarters."
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-Hannah Pedone
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 02, 2026 16:46 ET (20:46 GMT)
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