Verizon Communications Inc. VZ
Verizon's stock has continued its rally to $48.06 (as of 2026-08-17), supported by bullish technicals — price above both the 50-day ($45.40) and 200-day ($45.04) moving averages with MACD histogram positive — but the fundamental picture remains mixed: FY2025 revenue grew 2.52% yet diluted EPS declined to $4.06 from $4.15 and operating margin compressed to 21.17% from 22.71%, while total debt surged to $200.6B from $168.4B. VZ trades at a 50.8% P/E premium and 38.0% EV/EBITDA premium to the peer median, and smart money positioning is slightly negative (score -0.0912 as of Q2 2026), limiting re-rating upside until leverage is addressed and earnings stabilize.
What could go wrong
- Leverage escalation. Total debt jumped to $200.6B in FY2025 from $168.4B in FY2024, a $32.2B increase that raises interest burden and balance-sheet risk if rates remain elevated.
- Margin compression. Operating margin fell to 21.17% in FY2025 from 22.71% in FY2024 and net margin declined to 12.43% from 12.99%, indicating cost pressures outpacing revenue growth.
- Valuation premium. At a P/E of 12.52 versus a peer median of 8.30 and EV/EBITDA of 8.08 versus 5.85, VZ priced for improvement that has not yet materialized in earnings.
- Smart money outflows. Smart money score turned slightly negative at -0.0912 as of Q2 2026, down from +0.1674 in Q1 2026, with fund count declining from 66 to 63.
What would change my mind
Where this comes from: derived_metrics FY2025 · fundamentals FY2025 vs FY2024 · derived_metrics FY2025 vs FY2024 · technicals as of 2026-08-17. Orin's read on VZ; not advice.
Twelve months actual closes to 2026-09-23 · actual filings
50-day average 200-day average · volume below
On file
All VZ filings| Form | Filed | What it says | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-Q | 31 Jul | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 24 Jul | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 24 Jul | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 29 Jun | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 17 Jun | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 2 Jun | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 28 May | Verizon Communications Inc. | read |
| 8-K | 14 May | Verizon closed a $4 billion junior subordinated note offering on May 14, 2026, issuing $2 billion of 6.050% notes due 2058 and $2 billion of 6.200% notes due 2056 under its August… | read |
Largest holders · 13F Q2 2026
Money flow| Filer | Position | Of fund |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguard Capital Management | $11.0B | 0.2% of fund |
| State Street | $8.9B | 0.3% of fund |
| Charles Schwab Investment Management | $5.4B | 0.7% of fund |
| Geode Capital Management | $4.5B | 0.2% of fund |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | $3.3B | 0.1% of fund |
| Morgan Stanley | $3.0B | 0.2% of fund |
148 filers · quarter ended Q2 2026 · positions, not flows
Insiders, last 24 months: 440 Form 4 filings, net −$48.6M. Of the 50 on hand, 0 were open-market purchases and 6 sales— the rest are grants, option exercises and tax withholding.
Ask Orin about VZ
Orin answers questions about VZ from its filings, transcripts and numbers — with the source behind every claim. Your own desk starts with 3 free days, card required.
Start 3 free days →Where it trades
| Metric | Now | Own median | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 12.1× | 9.8× | 26.3× |
| EV/EBITDA | 7.9× | 7.4× | — |
| P/S | 1.40× | 1.25× | — |
| P/B | 1.9× | 1.7× | — |
Its P/E sits 80th percentile of its own last 5 years (+1.01σ from its own mean).
-2.4%
free-cash-flow growth every year for 10 years, discounted at 10%, is what today’s price implies — starting from $20.1B of trailing free cash flow. It is an assumption the market is making, not a forecast Orin is making.
What Wall Street published
$49
$46 – $53 · +3% against today's price
- 23 buy or overweight
- 35 hold
- 3 underweight or sell
The analysts’ consensus and their own ratings, not Orin’s. A target is a twelve-month opinion published by the firm that wrote it.
Against the companies it is compared to
| Company | Market cap | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross | Net | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VZVerizon Communications Inc. | $194B | 12.1× | 7.9× | 59.1% | 11.6% | 16% |
| CHTRCharter Communications, Inc. | $16B | 3.0× | 5.6× | 56.6% | 9.1% | 30% |
| CMCSAComcast Corporation | $80B | 7.3× | 4.8× | 69.4% | 9.0% | 12% |
| DISThe Walt Disney Company | $180B | 21.3× | 9.5× | 37.6% | 8.7% | 8% |
| TAT&T Inc. | $174B | 8.4× | 5.9× | 59.7% | 16.9% | 19% |
| TMUST-Mobile US, Inc. | $178B | 17.3× | 10.3× | 54.5% | 11.5% | 18% |
The median is of the 5 peers listed above and nothing else — check it against the column. This company trades 45.0% above it. The peer set is the vendor’s, so a company can appear here that a person would not have chosen.
What it has traded at
What its sector has traded at
Two scales, drawn separately on purpose: a sector median and one company’s multiple are not the same number and putting them on one axis invites a comparison neither series supports.
Discounted cash flow
| Model | Fair value | Against | Computed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard DCF | $119 | $46.87 · +155% | 2026-06-10 |
| Levered DCF | $78 | $46.87 · +67% | 2026-06-10 |
The vendor’s intrinsic-value models. Treat them as a low-growth anchor — for a fast grower the market routinely pays well above a DCF. These were computed against the price in the “against” column, not today’s.
Every estimate on one scale
The vertical rule is the current price. Ranges and point estimates are the backend’s, published as they were calculated; an arrow means the estimate sits beyond this scale, and its number is on the right.