Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) saw its shares climb 0.9% on Thursday, closing at $50.67, even as reports of a new service disruption surfaced. The uptick extended a five-session winning streak, with the stock advancing 1.1% over that period, according to MarketScreener data.
By 12:52 p.m. PT, more than 4,000 users had reported issues with Verizon's network, primarily related to mobile phone service, according to GV Wire. While the scale of this incident appears far smaller than previous outages, it underscores the ongoing operational challenges the carrier faces as it works to improve customer retention.
The latest disruption comes on the heels of a more significant outage on August 8, which triggered over 13,000 incident reports at its peak. Verizon addressed that issue within a few hours, according to CBS News. However, the company is still recovering from the financial impact of a major January outage that affected millions of customers and lasted ten hours or more, as reported by the FCC.
The January outage had a measurable effect on Verizon's first-quarter financials. Customer credits issued in response to the disruption reduced wireless service revenue by approximately 80 basis points. Based on the reported wireless service revenue of $20.6 billion, this translates to roughly $165 million, according to estimates from TS2.
Despite these setbacks, Verizon's operations have shown signs of improvement. In the second quarter, the company reported a net gain of 184,000 postpaid phone subscribers and generated $6.4 billion in free cash flow, a 24.4% increase year-over-year. CEO Dan Schulman emphasized that reliability is central to the company's strategy, stating that Verizon is "putting customers at the center of every decision."
Investors appear to be taking the latest outage in stride, viewing it as routine operational activity rather than a major threat to the company's financial outlook. Verizon ended Thursday's trading at roughly 10.1 times the midpoint of its projected adjusted earnings per share for 2026, with the company expecting EPS between $4.99 and $5.04.
Management will have an opportunity to address these issues publicly on September 9, when Schulman and CFO Tony Skiadas are scheduled to participate in investor conferences.
However, risks remain. Crowdsourced data does not confirm the full scale or duration of an outage, and short-term local issues may not have significant financial impact. But ongoing disruptions could lead to higher customer credits, increased churn, and greater regulatory scrutiny, potentially affecting Verizon's ability to sustain its recent subscriber gains.
