IHRT
iHeartMedia, Inc.
IHRT offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ has a slight edge over IHRT overall, supported by lower modeled downside.
IHRT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Weak |
IHRT's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
VZ Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
VZ's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
IHRT PE Valuation
IHRT has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
VZ PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 8.3x | $32.43 | -30% |
| Forward | 9x | $46.55 | — |
| Fair | 11x | $43.63 | -6.3% |
| Current | 12x | $46.55 | — |
| Expensive | 14x | $56.75 | +22% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VZ's PE is in its fair range at 12x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 9.0x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
IHRT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses steady | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect IHRT's earnings, revenue and profitability to hold roughly steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
VZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and profitability expectations.
IHRT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$1.44 | +$1.16 |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.81 | +$0.63 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.83 | +$6.57 |
| Q4 2025 | -$3.06 | +$3.62 |
| Q3 2025 | -$2.60 | +$4.19 |
| Q2 2025 | -$2.44 | +$4.14 |
| Q1 2025 | -$8.40 | -$2.39 |
| Q4 2024 | -$6.68 | +$0.71 |
IHRT is still losing money, but far less than before: $1.44 per share over the past year, against $13.15 at its worst in late 2020.
VZ Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.19 | +32% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.93 | -16% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.85 | -10% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.11 | -2.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.06 | -1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.68 | +103% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.29 | +61% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.20 | +57% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.14 | +51% |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
IHRT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1B | +3.3% |
| Q2 2026 | $977.2M | +4.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $884.2M | +9.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.1B | +0.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $997M | -1.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $933.7M | +0.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $807.1M | +1% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1B | +4.8% |
IHRT has the edge over VZ on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.1% | +19 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.6% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2% | +3.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 7.6% | -1.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | -12% | -19 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3.8% | +102 points |
| Q1 2025 | -3.1% | +1.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9.3% | +1.9 points |
IHRT's operating margin was 7.1% last quarter, up 19 points from the same quarter a year ago.
VZ Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $34.3B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $34.3B | -0.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $34.4B | +2.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $36.4B | +2% |
| Q3 2025 | $33.8B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $34.5B | +5.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $33.5B | +1.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $35.7B | +1.6% |
VZ's revenue has held roughly level: $34.3B last quarter, up 1.5% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 25% | +1.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | -2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 24% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -7.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | +6.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 24% | +1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 21% | +19 points |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
IHRT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$10.4M | +$22.4M |
| Q2 2026 | $46M | +$59.1M |
| Q1 2026 | -$114.5M | -$33.8M |
| Q4 2025 | $137.6M | +$161.8M |
| Q3 2025 | -$32.8M | -145% |
| Q2 2025 | -$13.2M | -337% |
| Q1 2025 | -$80.7M | +$185K |
| Q4 2024 | -$24.2M | -117% |
IHRT's free cash flow has turned positive again: $59M over the past year, against −$151M the year before.
VZ Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.5B | +2.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.4B | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $8B | +2.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.1B | -13% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.3B | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $9B | -5.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.8B | +9.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.4B | +20% |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
IHRT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.5% | +787K shares |
| 1 year | +2.1% | +3.3M shares |
| 3 years | +5.9% | +8.8M shares |
| 5 years | +5.4% | +8.1M shares |
| Available history | +145% | +93.8M shares |
IHRT has 158M diluted shares, up 2.1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $101,000 |
| Q4 2019 | — |
VZ Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -10M shares |
| 1 year | -1.7% | -72M shares |
| 3 years | -1.3% | -55M shares |
| 5 years | +0.4% | +17M shares |
| Available history | +0.5% | +21M shares |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
IHRT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.4x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 14.2x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 13.8x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 14.1x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 13.4x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 8.6x | High |
| Q1 2023 | 12.0x | High |
| Q4 2022 | 10.1x | High |
IHRT's net debt is about 9.4 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 13 years a year ago.
VZ Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 3.0x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.0x | Elevated |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
IHRT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 24.5 | Oversold |
| Stochastic | 10.8 | Oversold |
IHRT's weekly RSI is 24 (oversold) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
VZ Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 44.6 | Neutral |
VZ's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 45 (neutral).
IHRT PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | IHRT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 16x | — |
IHRT has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
VZ PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | VZ | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 16x | 28% below |
| PE % | 58 | 26 | 32 pts above |
VZ is trading at 12x earnings, a 28% discount to the Communication Services sector's median of 16x.
IHRT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $1.73 | 66% below |
| 20 week MA | $2.68 | 78% below |
| 50 week MA | $3.44 | 83% below |
| 100 week MA | $2.78 | 79% below |
| 200 week MA | $2.82 | 79% below |
IHRT is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 79% below its 200-week average.
VZ Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $45.1 | 3.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $46.3 | 0.5% above |
| 50 week MA | $46.1 | 1.1% above |
| 100 week MA | $44.2 | 5.4% above |
| 200 week MA | $41.4 | 12% above |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
IHRT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $16.0 | $12.2 | -24% |
| 2021 | $12.2 | $21.0 | +73% |
| 2022 | $21.0 | $6.67 | -68% |
| 2023 | $6.67 | $2.67 | -60% |
| 2024 | $2.67 | $1.91 | -28% |
| 2025 | $1.91 | $4.41 | +131% |
| 2026 YTD | $4.41 | $0.58 | -87% |
IHRT's yearly returns have swung widely, from +131% in 2025 to −68% in 2022. It's down 87% so far in 2026.
VZ Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $61.5 | $58.8 | -4.4% |
| 2021 | $58.8 | $52.7 | -10% |
| 2022 | $52.7 | $38.4 | -27% |
| 2023 | $38.4 | $37.7 | -1.8% |
| 2024 | $37.7 | $39.9 | +5.9% |
| 2025 | $39.9 | $40.5 | +1.4% |
| 2026 YTD | $40.5 | $46.6 | +15% |
VZ has the edge over IHRT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.