VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ's fundamentals are mixed: it turned 28% of its revenue into free cash flow, but its operating margin fell 2 points to 21%. At 12x earnings, it's trading in line with its usual 11x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
ZH
Zhihu Inc.
There isn't enough reported data to score ZH yet.
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.
ZH Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Strong |
ZH's balance sheet is currently strong, and its revenue is stable, but its profitability and cash flow are weak.
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.
ZH PE Valuation
ZH has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
ZH Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for ZH to show an outlook.
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 ZH on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
ZH Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$0.56 | -333% |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.36 | -$0.33 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.36 | -$0.08 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.17 | +$0.75 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.24 | +$1.23 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.03 | +$1.24 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.28 | +$0.99 |
| Q3 2024 | -$0.58 | +$0.80 |
ZH has swung to a loss: it lost $0.56 per share over the past year, after a profit the year before.
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 ZH 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 ZH on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
ZH Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $103.3M | -3.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $97.2M | -11% |
| Q4 2025 | $95.2M | -27% |
| Q3 2025 | $98.9M | -20% |
| Q2 2025 | $106.6M | -24% |
| Q1 2025 | $109.3M | -25% |
| Q4 2024 | $130.9M | -22% |
| Q3 2024 | $124M | -20% |
ZH's revenue has slid since its 2023 peak: $103M last quarter, down 3.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -11% | +1.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | -9.7% | -2.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | -21% | -23 points |
| Q3 2025 | -15% | -5.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | -13% | +7 points |
| Q1 2025 | -7.2% | +16 points |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4% | +17 points |
| Q3 2024 | -10% | +24 points |
ZH's operating margin was −11% last quarter, up 1.7 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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 ZH on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
ZH Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $0 | $0 |
| Q1 2026 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2025 | -$63.7M | -$63.7M |
| Q3 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q2 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q1 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2024 | $0 | $0 |
| Q3 2024 | $0 | $0 |
ZH's free cash flow was −$64M over the past year, against $0 the year before.
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 4.2B diluted shares, down 1.7% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
ZH Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1% | -743K shares |
| 1 year | -4.7% | -3.8M shares |
| 3 years | -24% | -23.8M shares |
| 5 years | -21% | -20.4M shares |
| Available history | -23% | -22.6M shares |
ZH has the edge over VZ on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | $55.5M |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
ZH spent $55M buying back its own shares over the past year, after none the year before.
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's net debt is about 3.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 2.8 years a year ago.
ZH Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | -18.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -17.0x | Net Cash |
ZH has more cash than debt.
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).
ZH Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 39.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 14.7 | Oversold |
ZH's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 15 (oversold).
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.
ZH PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | ZH | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 16x | — |
ZH has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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 ZH on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
ZH Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $3.21 | 18% below |
| 20 week MA | $3.14 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $3.23 | 18% below |
| 100 week MA | $3.75 | 30% below |
| 200 week MA | $4.55 | 42% below |
ZH is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 42% below its 200-week average.
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 ZH on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
ZH Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $51.0 | $31.7 | -38% |
| 2022 | $31.7 | $8.40 | -73% |
| 2023 | $8.40 | $5.62 | -33% |
| 2024 | $5.62 | $3.71 | -34% |
| 2025 | $3.71 | $3.38 | -8.9% |
| 2026 YTD | $3.38 | $2.64 | -22% |
ZH has finished every year since 2021 lower, and it's down 22% so far in 2026.