LION
Lionsgate Studios Corp.
LION has the edge over VZ overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
LION Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Weak |
LION's revenue and cash flow are currently healthy, and its profitability is 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.
LION PE Valuation
LION 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.
LION Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect LION's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
VZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect VZ's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue holding steady.
LION Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.32 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.06 | +$0.61 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.40 | +$0.27 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.70 | -$0.19 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.85 | $0.00 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.67 | +$0.34 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.67 | -$0.10 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.51 | -$0.11 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.85 | -$0.61 |
LION is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.06 per share over the past year, against $1.01 at its worst in late 2024.
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 LION on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
LION Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $668.8M | +41% |
| Q2 2026 | $776.6M | +48% |
| Q1 2026 | $906.5M | -15% |
| Q4 2025 | $724.3M | +1.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $475.1M | -57% |
| Q2 2025 | $525.9M | +8% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.1B | +22% |
| Q4 2024 | $713.8M | +3.2% |
LION's revenue is recovering but still below its 2024 peak: $669M last quarter, up 41% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.3% | +14 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.3% | +5.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 13% | +4.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 5% | -2 points |
| Q3 2025 | -9.7% | -17 points |
| Q2 2025 | -2% | +2.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 8.8% | +6.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7% | +5.9 points |
LION's operating margin was 4.3% last quarter, up 14 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 LION on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LION Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$56.3M | +$50.9M |
| Q2 2026 | $51.2M | +$85.7M |
| Q1 2026 | $265M | +5% |
| Q4 2025 | -$111.9M | +$52.6M |
| Q3 2025 | -$107.2M | -$20.7M |
| Q2 2025 | -$34.5M | +$128.5M |
| Q1 2025 | $252.5M | +206% |
| Q4 2024 | -$164.5M | -230% |
LION's free cash flow has turned positive after two years mostly in the red: $148M over the past year.
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's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $39B over the past year, up 1.5% from the year before.
LION Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +2.1% | +6M shares |
| 1 year | +2.9% | +8.4M shares |
| 3 years | +3.1% | +8.9M shares |
| 5 years | +1757% | +282M shares |
LION has 298M diluted shares, up 2.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | — |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | — |
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 LION on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
LION Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.6x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 9.8x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 14.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 3.8x | Elevated |
LION's net debt is about 6.6 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 1.7 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 LION on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
LION Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 82.6 | Overbought |
LION's weekly RSI is 62 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 83 (overbought).
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).
LION PE vs Communication Services Sector
LION 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.
LION Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $12.1 | 16% above |
| 20 week MA | $12.3 | 14% above |
| 50 week MA | $11.4 | 23% above |
VZ has stronger trend alignment. LION is above 3 of 3 weekly averages versus VZ above 5 of 5.
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 is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 12% above its 200-week average.
LION Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $7.12 | $9.31 | +31% |
| 2026 YTD | $9.31 | $14.1 | +51% |
LION has the edge over VZ on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
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 finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 15% so far in 2026.