Verizon Communications (VZ) Q3 2026 Earnings Call: Q&A Summary

Q: John Hodulik of UBS asked about the sustainability of volume growth in the postpaid market and the potential for future price increases.

A: CEO Dan Schulman noted that postpaid net adds were up 9-fold year-over-year with no free lines, while cost of acquisition fell 41% and cost of retention dropped 30%. He stated there is room to adjust the price-to-value equation, while CFO Tony Skiadas added that gross adds were up 11% and the company achieved a 40.2% EBITDA margin.

Q: Michael Ng of Goldman Sachs inquired about the pipeline for AI Connect, including hyperscale and neocloud deals, and details regarding deal length and margins.

A: CEO Dan Schulman described AI Connect as a significant growth vector with $4 billion in signed contracts and attractive margins, noting that edge computing is a key opportunity. CFO Tony Skiadas added that deals are customer-specific and that the company is already processing orders for the Google agreement.

Q: Michael Rollins of Citi asked about the potential impact of Starlink and LEO constellations on the core mobile business and whether Verizon would consider an MVNO agreement with them.

A: CEO Dan Schulman stated that while he assumes SpaceX will execute flawlessly, their broadband addressable market is limited without a terrestrial network. He noted that building such a network would take 4 to 6 years and cost between $300 billion and $0.5 trillion, and he explicitly rejected the idea of extending an MVNO deal to any satellite provider.

Q: Sean Diffley of Morgan Stanley asked about the future of fixed wireless access, the 1 gig product, and whether the company has sufficient spectrum to scale.

A: CEO Dan Schulman explained that the company is using its 1,700 megahertz of millimeter wave spectrum to launch a 1 gig FWA product, targeting 50 million to 65 million premises passed with 1 gig or more of speed. He reaffirmed the target of 8 million to 9 million FWA subscribers by 2028 and noted that the company has sufficient flexibility and a robust pipeline of future spectrum auctions.

Q: Gregory Williams of TD Cowen asked about the rise of agentic AI and its potential impact on ARPU.

A: CEO Dan Schulman stated that AI and agents will fundamentally change business, noting that the company's network will become a scarce and crucial asset that they will price accordingly. He highlighted the opportunity to use agents to drive incremental revenues and improve customer interactions, building on the $4 billion in signed AI Connect contracts.