Verizon Adds 406,000 Postpaid Lines, Raises 2026 Target to 1.2 Million
Key Facts
Verizon added 406,000 net postpaid phone lines in the third quarter of 2026, an increase of more than 820% year over year and its strongest performance for the quarter in five years, according to the company. It raised its full-year target for postpaid line additions to 1.1–1.2 million, compared with the upper half of a previous range of 750,000 to 1 million. The company said the new range is more than three times its 2025 result. It also added 137,000 net postpaid accounts, its best quarterly performance in more than a decade. The results were announced on October 26, with the contrast between customer and profit growth and revenue that fell short of analyst estimates in focus.
Revenue from mobility and broadband services reached $23.5 billion, up 2.9% year over year in the third quarter, according to a Verizon statement. Growth in the segment accelerated from 2.8% in the second quarter and 1.6% in the first quarter of 2026. The company said it expects growth in the upper half of its annual range of 2.5–3.0%, and growth of about 4.0% in the fourth quarter. But total operating revenue reached $34.3 billion, up 1.5% year over year, as service growth was offset by a 9.0% decline in device revenue. The company attributed the drop in device revenue mainly to fewer phone upgrades, customers keeping their devices longer and its decision to reduce spending on device subsidies.
Customer growth extended across the company’s services. Verizon added about 1.7 million mobility and broadband subscribers in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 879,000 in the same period of 2025. In the third quarter, net broadband additions were 314,000 connections, including 159,000 fixed wireless access connections and 155,000 fiber connections. Total broadband connections rose to 17.4 million. The postpaid phone churn rate improved by 4 basis points year over year to 0.94%. Promotional customer acquisition costs fell 41%, and promotional retention costs fell 30% year over year.
Verizon said its operational transformation prioritizes simpler offers and an expanded loyalty program over large device subsidies. The company linked this approach to attracting higher-value, more loyal customers, expanding margins, reducing churn and generating sustainable cash flow. In the third quarter, consolidated net income was $5.3 billion, up 5.2% year over year, according to the company’s disclosure. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $13.8 billion, up 8.0%, the company’s highest quarterly result on record. The margin on this measure increased to 40.2% from 37.8% a year earlier, which Verizon said was the highest in its history.
Adjusted earnings per share were $1.31 in the third quarter, compared with $1.21 in the same period of 2025, an increase of 8.3%. Based on that result, the company raised its 2026 adjusted earnings per share forecast to $5.04–$5.06, with expected annual growth of 7.0% to 7.5%. The previous growth range was 6.0–7.0%. Operating cash flow was $11.5 billion, up 2.2%, while free cash flow reached $7.8 billion, up 12.1%. In the first nine months, free cash flow was $18.0 billion, up 14.3% from the same period a year earlier.
Verizon raised its 2026 free cash flow growth forecast to near 12.0%, from a previous range of 9.0% to 10.0%. It also raised its operating cash flow growth forecast to 3.5–5.0%, compared with a previous forecast of 2.0% to 4.0%. On infrastructure, the company expects its fiber footprint to exceed 32 million locations by year-end. It is targeting 40–50 million locations over the medium term. On October 26, it announced an agreement with AWS worth more than $2 billion, establishing a commercial framework to expand distributed computing and meet the real-time needs of generative AI and agent workloads.
Despite profit growth, Verizon shares fell 3.5% on Monday, October 26, as the Associated Press reported that revenue missed analyst expectations even as earnings were stronger than expected. The stock closed at $43.1, according to EL7 data. The move reflected the divergence between customer and profit performance on one hand and pressure from device revenue on total revenue on the other. The company’s outlook for the next phase centers on mobility and broadband services growth of about 4.0% in the fourth quarter and expanding fiber coverage to more than 32 million locations by the end of 2026. The company also set a medium-term target of 40 to 50 million fiber coverage locations.