Verizon raises full-year outlook for third straight quarter, strikes $2B-plus AWS AI deal
What happened
Verizon reported Q3 results Monday that beat profit expectations and raised its full-year guidance for a third consecutive quarter, while signing a deal worth more than $2 billion with Amazon Web Services. Adjusted EPS was $1.31 versus ~$1.27-$1.28 expected; revenue rose 1.5% to $34.3 billion, slightly below the ~$34.7-$34.8 billion consensus as lower device upgrades weighed on equipment revenue. Verizon added 406,000 postpaid phone subscribers — more than double the ~195,000-209,000 expected and its best Q3 in five years — and raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $5.04-$5.06 (from $4.99-$5.04) and postpaid phone net additions to 1.1-1.2 million (from 750,000-1 million). Under the AWS deal, Verizon will provide high-capacity fiber-optic connectivity for AWS data centers supporting agentic and generative AI workloads.
Why it matters & what’s next are part of Pro, along with the audio summary.
Start your free 14-day trialWho’s affected
- Verizon / VZ (shares up ~2% premarket; Q3 beat and third straight guidance raise)
- Amazon / AMZN (watchlist; AWS gains high-capacity fiber connectivity for AI data centers)
- AT&T and T-Mobile (rivals; Verizon's subscriber outperformance sharpens the competitive contrast ahead of their reports)
- Telecom/fiber names (Verizon's AI-infrastructure deals validate fiber as an AI-era revenue stream)
Sources