New Verizon CEO Dan Schulman to overhaul strategy; “cost reductions will be a way of life”
Verizon’s 3Q2025 Results:
Verizon lost a net 7,000 postpaid phone connections in the 3rd quarter of 2025, missing expectations of adding 19,000. However, the company reported a profit of $5.06 billion, or $1.17 a share, compared with $3.41 billion, or 78 cents a share, a year earlier. Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted per-share earnings were $1.21 a share, just ahead of the $1.19 a share that analysts had forecast, according to FactSet. Revenue ticked 1.5% higher to $33.82 billion vs Wall Street analysts expectation of $34.26 billion.
Wireless service revenue—Verizon’s largest business—rose 2.1% year-over-year to $21 billion. The company added 306,000 broadband connections, ending the latest quarter with more than 13.2 million connections. It has also added 261,000 new fixed-wireless access connections.
Broadband:
- Delivered 306,000 broadband net additions in third-quarter 2025.
- Total fixed wireless access net additions were 261,000 in third-quarter 2025, bringing the base to nearly 5.4 million fixed wireless access subscribers.
- Delivered 61,000 Fios internet net additions in third-quarter 2025, the best quarterly result in two years.
- Total broadband connections grew to more than 13.2 million as of the end of third-quarter 2025, representing a 11.1 percent increase year-over-year.
Forward Guidance: Verizon expects total wireless-service revenue growth of 2% to 2.8%, while adjusted per-share earnings are projected to rise 1% to 3%.
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Verizon’s New Strategy & Focus:
Dan Schulman was named CEO of Verizon on October 6, 2025, replacing former CEO Hans Vestberg. The new CEO plans to overhaul the company’s strategy, focusing on customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Schulman, who stepped into the CEO role earlier this month, said in a letter to employees that Verizon hasn’t been able to translate its years of heavy network investment into customer growth, especially amid fierce competition that has pressured pricing. Schulman attributed Verizon’s lagging performance to a strategy that relied too heavily on price increases without corresponding subscriber growth.
“Verizon has deep strengths and incredible potential, but the blunt truth is we haven’t captured the customer growth opportunities this strong foundation enables. “Our plan will not be about incremental change. We intend to aggressively transform the culture and financial profile of our company operating under the principles of being bold, customer centric and executing with financial discipline, with a focus on shareholder value,” he said.
Verizon will aim to fundamentally change its culture and cost structure to focus on customer satisfaction, operational efficiency and profitable expansion. Schulman plans to simplify offers and improve the customer experience, in part by leveraging artificial intelligence to tailor marketing and reduce costs. Verizon also intends to exit or streamline legacy businesses that don’t offer clear paths to profitability: “We will be a simpler, leaner and scrappier business,” Schulman said on the company’s earnings call.
Source: Jordi Boixareu
His assessment, is that while the #1 U.S. mobile operator by subscribers has been busy building out fiber and 5G, somewhere along the way it forgot about customers and has not been giving them good enough reasons to stay. “Despite investing significantly in network leadership, we have not been able to translate that into winning in the market, and, consequently, we are not generating the financial profile necessary for share price appreciation. Every year it gets harder to grow as we lap past price increases and experience higher churn. This cannot continue, and there is no question that meaningful change is needed,” Schulman said. “This is not a course correction, it is a fundamental change in our strategic approach to customers,” he said, noting that “raising rates without corresponding value rarely, if ever, delights customers.”
He stressed that attracting and retaining customers for the long-term will not come through “promotional activities” but rather a focus on and investment in value and customer experience to improve loyalty, “grow through retention,” and “make it much easier to do business with us.” Schulman’s goal is to have the lowest churn rate in the industry. “Verizon will no longer be the hunting ground for competitors looking to gain share,” he said. “We will be a simpler, leaner and scrappier business. This work is overdue and will be multi-year … Cost reductions will be a way of life for us,” he added.
As Verizon redirects investment to specific growth areas, it will also “aggressively” shut down or exit legacy businesses that are not profitable, which would “unleash margin improvement.” But as to which businesses he has in mind, more will be revealed at the operator’s next investment update in January 2026.
AI will be leveraged to “simply offers” and reduce churn “through smart, consistent and more personalized marketing,” while reducing cost and complexity across processes, he said. Verizon will continue to invest in growth areas – namely, its fiber build and C-band spectrum rollout. But it will also keep an eye out for other opportunities that might come along, noting that it has the financial flexibility in its balance sheet to do so. Schulman did not divulge what types of investments he might be interested in so we will have to wait till January for that information.
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In a research note published today, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said Schulman “described a shift towards being a customer-centric company, with the ‘best value proposition’ in the market. There is a clear focus on subscriber metrics. He called it a ‘full reboot.’ The obvious question is… how? Verizon is no longer perceived to have the best network. And it is perceived to have the highest prices. His promise to reverse subscriber losses without relying on promotions and price strikes us as more of a wish than a strategy.”
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References:
https://www.verizon.com/about/news/new-verizon-playing-to-win
https://www.verizon.com/about/investors/quarterly-reports/3q-2025-earnings-conference-call-webcast
https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/verizon-backs-outlook-as-profit-revenue-rise-f92e4a6c
https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/verizon-ceo-dan-schulman-calls-for-full-reboot-
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