LUMN
Lumen Technologies, Inc.
LUMN offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ has the edge over LUMN overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
LUMN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Stable | |
| Weak | |
| Weak |
LUMN's profitability is currently stable, but its revenue, cash flow and balance sheet are under pressure.
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.
LUMN PE Valuation
LUMN 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.
LUMN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Decline | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect LUMN's losses to shrink, with revenue declining.
VZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
VZ has the edge over LUMN on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
LUMN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.67 | +$0.99 |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.03 | +$0.16 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.75 | -$1.43 |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.75 | -$1.69 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.66 | +$0.52 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.19 | +$0.92 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.32 | +$10.62 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.06 | +$10.42 |
LUMN is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.67 per share over the past year, against $11.48 at its worst in late 2023.
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 LUMN on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
LUMN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.7B | -12% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.8B | -9.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.9B | -8.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | -8.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.1B | -4.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.1B | -5.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.2B | -3.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.3B | -5.3% |
LUMN's revenue has slid since its 2019 peak: $2.7B last quarter, down 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -6.2% | -2.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | -3.1% | +16 points |
| Q1 2026 | 21% | +17 points |
| Q4 2025 | -6.6% | -11 points |
| Q3 2025 | -3.8% | -7.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | -20% | -24 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.4% | +2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 4.6% | +55 points |
LUMN's operating margin was −6.2% last quarter, down 2.4 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 has the edge over LUMN on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| 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 LUMN on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
LUMN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$354M | -124% |
| Q2 2026 | $69M | +$390M |
| Q1 2026 | $380M | +25% |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.1B | -$855M |
| Q3 2025 | $1.5B | +24% |
| Q2 2025 | -$321M | -$79M |
| Q1 2025 | $304M | -22% |
| Q4 2024 | -$227M | -$190M |
LUMN's free cash flow has turned negative after years in the green: −$987M 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 has the edge over LUMN on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
LUMN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +669K shares |
| 1 year | +0.9% | +8.8M shares |
| 3 years | +2.2% | +21.2M shares |
| 5 years | -6% | -64.4M shares |
| Available history | -6.2% | -66.7M shares |
LUMN has 1B diluted shares, up 0.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | $200M |
| Q4 2021 | $91M |
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 LUMN on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
LUMN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.3x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 4.8x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 8.5x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 6.4x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 6.2x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 4.6x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.7x | High |
LUMN's net debt is about 4.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 6.4 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 LUMN on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
LUMN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 34.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.7 | Oversold |
LUMN's weekly RSI is 34 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 12 (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).
LUMN PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | LUMN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 16x | — |
LUMN 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.
LUMN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $4.88 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $5.81 | 28% below |
| 50 week MA | $7.24 | 42% below |
| 100 week MA | $6.23 | 33% below |
| 200 week MA | $4.53 | 7.9% below |
LUMN is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 7.9% 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 LUMN on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
LUMN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $13.4 | $9.86 | -27% |
| 2021 | $9.86 | $12.8 | +30% |
| 2022 | $12.8 | $5.24 | -59% |
| 2023 | $5.24 | $1.83 | -65% |
| 2024 | $1.83 | $5.49 | +200% |
| 2025 | $5.49 | $7.69 | +40% |
| 2026 YTD | $7.69 | $4.17 | -46% |
LUMN's yearly returns have swung widely, from +200% in 2024 to −65% in 2023. It's down 46% 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 LUMN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.