Verizon Raised Your Phone Bill and Pocketed $20 Billion… Is it FINALLY Time to Buy?

You know that painfully slow golf clap you give when your dad finally sinks a two-foot putt after three excruciating tries? (The one where you’re mostly clapping to move things along so you can grab another beer.) Well, that’s exactly how Wall Street reacted to Verizon’s Q4 2024 earnings. The telecom company with Snoop Dogg as the new face, served up some solid numbers, but the market shrugged with a 1.6% stock bump (decent, but not worth writing home about… although ironically, here I am writing about it… you’re welcome).

First off, Verizon brought in $35.7 billion in revenue, beating analysts’ predictions of $35.3 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.10, topping expectations by a whole penny. Oh, and that $5.1 billion net income was a massive glow-up from the $2.6 billion loss they took in Q4 2023 when they had to write off some not-so-great decisions (data breaches and illegal fees).

So how did they turn it around? Simple: they did what every company with a chokehold on their customers does—raised prices. Yes, your phone bill went up, and Verizon happily pocketed the extra cash. Wireless service revenue climbed 3.1% to $20 billion, proving that while we’ll grumble, none of us are actually getting rid of our unlimited data plans.

Verizon also dialed in some solid subscriber growth, adding 568,000 new wireless customers and 408,000 broadband users in Q4 alone. That brings total broadband customers to 12.3 million, up 15% year-over-year. Clearly, people still want fast internet, even if they’re groaning about the cost.

But Fios, Verizon’s flashy fiber-optic internet service, stumbled a bit… net additions were slightly down. Maybe they need a TikTok campaign or a celebrity endorsement? Everyone loves Ryan Reynolds, right?

CEO Hans Vestberg didn’t hold back on his sunshines and rainbows, telling investors, “It’s only going to get better this year and beyond.” In other words: “Hang tight, big things are coming.” Those big things include a pending Frontier Communications acquisition, new satellite partnerships, and AI projects (whatever that means, they slap AI on anything nowadays).

However, guidance for 2025 came in a bit underwhelming, with expected earnings-per-share growth of 0% to 3%. Wall Street doesn’t love the sound of “flat,” even when it’s dressed up as “stable.”

So, should you invest in Verizon? Well, the stock’s had a tough year, down 7% over the past 12 months and 34% in the last five years. Sure, it might look like a tempting dip buy… though, to be fair, people said the same thing back when I still had a full head of hair, so take that as you will. Unless you’re a dividend investor chasing its sexy 7% yield, Verizon doesn’t have much else to offer. It’s steady, predictable, and about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Stocks.News has a position in Verizon mentioned in article.