Latest news with #HansVestberg
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
2 Billion More Reasons for Income Investors to Buy 6.4%-Yielding Verizon Stock
Key Points Verizon increased its full-year free-cash-flow guidance significantly, which makes its dividend more secure. There's more to like about the stock than just the dividend. Verizon's management team continues to do the things income investors should appreciate. 10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications › Many income investors love Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) stock. It's easy to see why. After all, the telecom giant pays a juicy forward dividend yield of 6.4% at the current stock price. Verizon has also increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years. The company provided its 2025 second-quarter update on July 21. And income investors now have even more to love about this ultra-high-yield dividend stock. 2 billion more reasons to buy Verizon It might sound a little gimmicky to say that there are now 2 billion more reasons for income investors to buy Verizon stock. However, it's the truth. Verizon increased its full-year free cash flow guidance to between $19.5 billion and $20.5 billion from its previous outlook of $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion. This extra $2 billion at the ends makes the company's dividend more secure. It also puts Verizon in an even stronger position to extend its impressive streak of dividend hikes. If that doesn't make this stock more attractive to income investors, I don't know what will. Additionally, Verizon raised the lower end of its full-year adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth guidance range by 1%. The company increased the lower end of its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growth outlook range by 0.5%. What's behind Verizon's greater optimism about the rest of the year? It in part reflects the solid results the company delivered in Q2. Verizon topped Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates. However, the company also expects to benefit from tax reform. More to like than just the dividend Verizon will appeal primarily to income investors because of its fantastic dividend. However, there's more to like about this stock than just the dividend. Value investors could find Verizon's forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8.7 intriguing. Not only is this only a fraction of the S&P 500's forward earnings multiple of 22.7, but it's also well below the valuations of other telecom leaders such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and T-Mobile US (NASDAQ: TMUS). I doubt that growth investors will be interested in Verizon. That doesn't mean the company won't be able to grow, though. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg noted in the Q2 earnings call that the sales funnel for AI Connect "has nearly doubled to $2 billion" since the AI-enabled network, cloud, and private fiber connectivity solutions portfolio launched earlier in 2025. I think this will continue to be a strong growth driver for Verizon as AI applications move to the edge of networks. Verizon's pending acquisition of Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FYBR) should boost growth, too. CFO Tony Skiadis said that Verizon "remain[s] on track for an early 2026 close" on this deal. He noted that eight states, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice have already given their approvals to the transaction. Verizon is working with the remaining state regulatory agencies needed to finalize the acquisition. Bet on the jockey The additional $2 billion in free cash flow Verizon expects to generate this year wouldn't be possible if the company didn't have an exceptional management team. Income investors should take comfort in the fact that Vestberg and other executives are focused on what matters most. During the Q2 earnings call, I counted 18 times that management used the word "discipline" to describe their approach. At one point, Skiadis said, "we're not chasing growth for the sake of growth." Vestberg mentioned that management wants to put the board of directors in a position to continue growing the dividend. Those are the kinds of things income investors should love to hear. And while Verizon just gave 2 billion more reasons to buy the stock, perhaps the best long-term reason to do so is the old adage, "Bet on the jockey." Should you buy stock in Verizon Communications right now? Before you buy stock in Verizon Communications, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Verizon Communications wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $665,092!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,050,477!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,055% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Keith Speights has positions in Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 2 Billion More Reasons for Income Investors to Buy 6.4%-Yielding Verizon Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool
The Star
7 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Verizon owes $175 million in patent infringement case, Texas jury says
Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon, rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., June 30, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo (Reuters) -A federal court in Marshall, Texas, said on Wednesday that U.S. telecom company Verizon Wireless must pay $175 million in damages for violating an inventor's patent rights related to wireless communications technology. The jury's decision in favor of Headwater Research comes just months after the firm secured a $278 million verdict in a separate patent dispute against Samsung over wireless technology, also in the same Marshall, Texas, federal court. Spokespeople for Verizon and attorneys for Headwater did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday's verdict. Tyler, Texas-based Headwater was founded by scientist and inventor Gregory Raleigh. Headwater said in its complaint in 2023 that its patented technology allows wireless devices to "reduce data usage and network congestion, extend battery life by decreasing power consumption, and enable users to stay connected." Headwater said it shared information about its technology with Verizon under a non-disclosure agreement between 2009 and 2011. The complaint said that Verizon's mobile phones, tablets and cellular networks infringed Headwater's patents. Verizon denied the allegations and argued that the patents were invalid. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Phone Arena
7 days ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
Verizon's CEO practically told employees to worry about their jobs
After Verizon reported its second quarter earnings a couple of days ago, it held its usual conference call with analysts to go over the results and to answer questions from Wall Street analysts and the media. During the call, Peter Supino, an analyst with a company called Wolfe Research, got Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg to say that the carrier will continue to reduce the workforce although the size of these cuts was not addressed by the executive. Vestberg told the analyst, ""The headcount – we have been very, very good, and it's going down all the time. So we have been very efficient in managing our resources." Data computed by Light Reading shows just how efficient Verizon has been. For example, when Verizon had a headcount of 183,000 in 2012, it generated approximately $116 billion in revenue from its telecom businesses including mobile and fixed-line. When the curtain dropped on 2024, Verizon had fewer than 100,000 employees while the top line had grown to $134.8 billion. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. | Image credit-Verizon Supino might have asked Vestberg about Verizon 's hiring plans because of a slight increase in the headcount last quarter sequentially. But Vestberg's response was to indicate that Verizon is still in cost-cutting mode; even though the carrier's workforce rose from 99,400 at the end of March to 100,000 at the end of June, the headcount year-over-year was still 3.7% lower. Analysts like Supino love to see the companies they follow cut the workforce since it quickly lower costs. One of the reasons not to expect Verizon to go on a hiring binge is the use of AI. Verizon has just started to bring AI into its workforce with the carrier telling the SEC in its last annual report that "We are using AI in our network deployment and maintenance as well as our customer and employee support services." Verizon CFO Tony Skiadas said, "We continue to take cost out, whether it's AI, whether it's network. Whether it's IT platform consolidation or real estate, we're continuing to push cost out of the business." Current Verizon employees might be very worried about how hard the carrier is going to push. With the $20 billion acquisition of broadband provider Frontier Communications about to close soon, Verizon has discussed synergies that it hopes will result in annual cost reductions of $500 million of more annually. The savings come from eliminating duplicate operations and jobs. Some of the jobs lost will come from the Frontier side, which is not such a shock considering that the company has laid off 5,300 people over the last four years reducing its headcount by 29% over those years. That Verizon is more efficient now cannot be denied. In 2012, a year we discussed earlier in this article, Verizon took in $631,000 in revenue per employee. This has risen to $1.35 million in revenue generated by each Verizon employee. While many believe that AI is bringing these efficiencies to the nation's largest wireless carrier, Verizon disagrees. Verizon says that there are too many risks involved in using AI to replace human employees. In its latest annual report filed with the SEC, Verizon said that, "There are technological, regulatory, ethical and other risks involved in deploying and using AI, particularly generative AI models. There can be no assurance that the usage of AI will meaningfully enhance our products or services or be beneficial to our business, including our efficiency or profitability." Verizon isn't the only U.S. carrier cutting its workforce. AT&T has eliminated 139,000 jobs between 2017 and 2025, while Verizon has cut 84,000 since 2012. If it isn't the use of AI allowing the carriers to hand out pink slips like never before, it must mean that companies like Verizon and AT&T have truly discovered a way to run their businesses with smaller headcounts. And based on what Verizon 's CEO says, the job cuts will continue. The big question is, will the business continue to grow? Switch to a 2-month Total 5G or 5G+ plan with Total Wireless and score this foldable deal. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Miami Herald
23-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Verizon hopes a new tactic will fix fleeing customer problem
Verizon (VZ) , the largest mobile network in the U.S., is continuing to see large numbers of customers cut the cord on phone service, despite recent efforts to keep them from leaving. In its latest earnings report, Verizon revealed that while it added about 300,000 new phone and internet customers during the second quarter of 2025, its wireless postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who ended phone service) remained at 0.9%, compared to the previous quarter. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The continued loss of customers comes after Verizon hiked the monthly rates for myPlan and New Verizon Plan accounts in January. Related: T-Mobile announces generous offer for conflicted customers It also increased the monthly price of its Verizon Mobile Protect Multi-Device plan and Verizon Mobile Secure Multi-Device plan by $8 in March. To win back customers frustrated with price hikes, Verizon announced a new three-year price lock guarantee earlier this year. It also reportedly began offering select customers free phone lines in March, and last month, it announced a new bundle in which customers with a myPlan mobile account can obtain a smartphone, tablet, and smartwatch when they trade in an eligible phone. Image source: Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images During an earnings call on July 21, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg said that elevated promotional activity from competitors and other factors contributed to the continued loss of customers. "The wireless market remains competitive, and we continue to take a strategic approach," said Vestberg. "As expected, postpaid churn remained elevated this quarter, reflecting the lingering effects of our pricing actions and ongoing pressure from federal government accounts." Verizon's top competitors, such as T-Mobile and AT&T have recently been ramping up generous perks and trade-in offers to attract new customers. For example, earlier this month, T-Mobile began offering customers a free DoorDash subscription (DashPass) through its T-Life app. Last month, AT&T introduced a new low-priced phone plan for customers who are 55 years old and up. During the call, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Tony Skiadas emphasized that the company is doubling down on improving its customers' "loyalty and retention" by providing them with more personalized support and value. "We have taken a series of actions to address our elevated churn," said Skiadas. "On June 24th, we launched initiatives designed to improve the customer experience, including leveraging AI for more personalized support. In addition, we continue to enhance our value proposition and build customer loyalty through the best value guarantee. We provide exclusive access to the best events and experiences, and our Refresh app helps customers maximize the value of their plans." Related: Verizon's move to slow down fleeing customers raises alarm bells Vesterg said Verizon's recent decision to use artificial intelligence for customer support and extend its customer service hours to 24/7 allows its employees to follow a request or complaint from customers "all the way," addressing a major pain point. He also said that since 93% of the U.S. population is less than 30 minutes away from a Verizon store, the company will also focus on leveraging its locations to provide more support and help to customers. "We leverage all the assets and all our employees to see that we're treating our customer better," said Vestberg. "And I think it's an area we can excel in." The increased focus on customer loyalty and retention comes as Verizon and other phone carriers face increased competition from cable companies, which have surprisingly generated an increased number of phone customers this year. Cable giants have recently been offering customers bundle options on TV, mobile, and internet, allowing them to save money on these services. More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersAT&T makes generous offer to older customers According to a recent report from MoffettNathanson, Spectrum, Comcast, and Altice USA added 886,000 new phone customers during the first three months of 2025, up from the 804,000 they added during the same time period last year. It is no surprise that customers are flocking to cable companies to take advantage of discounted phone services since phone bills increased nationwide last year. According to a recent report from Doxo, the average amount of money 94% of Americans spent on phone bills per month last year is $121, a 2% increase from what they spent monthly in 2023. Related: Comcast has a harsh warning for customers The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Verizon Beats on 2Q Revenue, Raises Profit Outlook
Verizon surpassed analysts' estimates for second-quarter revenue and raised its profit outlook, buoyed by wireless price increases and recent tax legislation. Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg discusses the results on "Bloomberg Open Interest." Sign in to access your portfolio
